Exercises on Margaret Thatcher

(Mackenzie) “There is no society, only individuals”. (Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister). The first woman to serve as prime minister in British history, from 1979 to 1990, Thatcher was given the title of “the strong man of the United Kingdom” by the then US president, Ronald Reagan. Appointed by the Conservative Party, her firm decisions marked the adoption of a neoliberal policy and the end of the model, then practiced, known as the Welfare State . Regarding this new model of government, mark the correct alternative.

a) Privatization of state-owned companies, in which products and services considered strategic for national sovereignty are subjected to the logic of the international market, allowing an increase in public spending on health and education.

b) Resumption of an economic policy supported by economists, such as Haydek and Friedman, defending absolute economic freedom, but with concerns focused on the distribution of national wealth.

c) Possibility for developing countries to improve their social framework, with the increase of jobs for the working class, thanks to the performance of transnational companies in various sectors.

d) Cutting spending in the social sector, increasing unemployment, toughening negotiations with unions, raising interest rates and ending state intervention, giving full freedom to the financial and economic sectors.

e) New government directive adopted by Thatcher, in England, was not implemented by the leaders of other nations, who criticized the social inequalities generated by the adoption of this economic model.

“The Thatcherites are "Burkeans", not "right-wing Leninists". So, instead of a dogged, radical, abolitionist approach to economic freedom, they preferred to indulge in the glories of gradualism and moderation. This could be proved in the first years of the government. Instead of a rigid monetary policy, instead of completely stopping monetary expansion to put an end to rising inflation, a much more gradual monetary tightening was chosen. And what was the result of this gradualism in monetary policy? Gradualism spawned a chronic recession, which was inevitable but was not restrictive enough to end inflation or to reinvigorate the economy. Then there was the worst of both worlds:recession, unemployment and price inflation. And this scenario lasted until approximately 1985, when these indicators improved. But the good moment, obviously, generated further easing of monetary policy, so that, by 1990, they were all again as bad as they had been at the beginning of the government.” (ROTHBARD, Murray N. Farewell to the Iron Lady . In:Instituto Ludwig von Mises Brazil, February 27, 2012).

Taking into account the fact that the author of the text, economist Murray Rothbard, is a notorious representative of the Austrian School of Economics and, therefore, a defender of the free market and non-interventionism of the State, we can say that, in this passage, Rothbard:

a) only disagrees on the point concerning the Welfare State.

b) endorses all decisions made by Thatcher in the area of ​​economic policy.

c) criticizes the Thatcher government's monetary policy.

d) criticizes the turn to communism, which was the main feature of the Thatcher government.

e) endorses the Welfare economic policy of the Thatcher Government.

(Vunesp – with modifications ) Former UK minister Margaret Thatcher, 87, has died of a stroke, a family spokesperson said on Monday:“It is with great regret that Mark and Carol Thacher announce that their mother, Baroness Thatcher, passed away peacefully after a stroke this morning,” said spokesman Lord Timothy Bell.

The death of Margaret Thatcher was prominently reported, as the Prime Minister:

a) was the ultimate representative of neoliberalism in the UK.

b) she was the main questioner of US imperialism for decades.

c) promoted political and social reforms, expanding labor achievements in England.

d) inspired, as a political leader, several rulers to adopt a populist policy.

e) was the main criticism of the political reforms that led to the extinction of the former USSR.

Between April and June 1982, Margaret Thatcher, as head of state of the United Kingdom, led her country into an armed conflict that had international repercussions. This conflict was:

a) Gulf War

b) Iran-Iraq War

c) War of the Two Roses

d) War of the Pond

e) Falklands War

Letter D

Margaret Thatcher, when she ascended to power in England, sought to balance economic austerity measures with the maintenance of some characteristics of the Welfare State. One of the side effects of the austerity measures was the widening of disagreements with the labor unions, encouraging the privatization policy and reducing state intervention in the economy.

Letter C

For Rothbard, the Thatcher government applied few of the premises of political liberalism, despite being considered by the major media and economic experts around the world as a government that most represented this economic line, associated with a conservative policy.

Letter A

Margaret Thatcher's government was considered one of the greatest representatives of neoliberalism in the 1980s, alongside the US Reagan administration – its contemporary. However, there are divergent positions in this regard, both in relation to the term “neoliberalism” (there are authors who believe that there was and still is “Liberalism”, in the classical sense) and in relation to the fact that Thatcher was really liberal in her government. .

Letter E

The Falklands War, fought in 1982, was a military undertaking by England against the government of the Argentine dictatorship. This war was motivated by the violation of the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands – then protected by the British – by the Argentines, who claimed such sovereignty for themselves.