British disease

Economic troubles that began after the Second World War (when the British economy grew more slowly than the economies on the European Continent) and peaked in the 1970s.

The symptoms were low industrial productivity, high wages, inflation and a declining share in the worldwide export market (1954: 20%, 1975: less than 9%; [Maurer 462]); the most evident sign was the Winter of Discontent in 1978/79.

The cure was Thatcherism, at least according to herself and her supporters. Thatcher cut income taxes and the welfare state, privatised state-owned enterprises and curbed the influence of the trade unions. However, it is not clear whether Britain's economic troubles were really homemade, as Thatcher informed the public, or the result of economic changes worldwide (Maurer 462).

Sources

• Michael Maurer. Kleine Geschichte Englands. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2007.