The Lone Centurion
Active member
- Location
- Deloraine, Tasmania, Australia
If Reagan developed early-onset dementia and Thatcher never got the momentum to win in 1975, how long would the "soft left" post-war consensus last?
Not much longer, the late 1970s economic crunch was on some level inevitable as West Germany and Japan started reaching their previous positions in the world Economy and emerging economies found their footing.If Reagan developed early-onset dementia and Thatcher never got the momentum to win in 1975, how long would the "soft left" post-war consensus last?
Keith Joseph was on maneuvers, but thankfully he shot himself in the foot.If there's no Reagan, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter are in prime positions to pull the plug in the US, as are countless others. I'm less well read on the British Conservative Party of the times but I am under the impression that Margaret wasn't the only Anti-Heath figure, just the one who rose up at the right time.
Keith Joseph was meant to be the candidate, being far more ideologically rigorous than Thatcher.Keith Joseph was on maneuvers, but thankfully he shot himself in the foot.
I'm sure @Uhura's Mazda can explain this better, but I really don't think there was anyone prominent in the 1970s Labour Party who would have been willing and able to go down the same path as New Zealand. What's more likely is an Australian scenario, where you still see a shift towards monetarism and deregulation while still trying to save the furniture of the welfare state instead of engaging in the sort of ideologically driven slash-and-burn Roger Douglas did.The shift was already clearly underway and a victory for say Labour in 78 could well have just led to a Labour monatarism now too dissimilar to what was seen in New Zealand (Healeynomics maybe?).
Yea, I'm not saying to speed it up or intentionally transition so much as "to provide a bit of breathing room as the transition happens". Sort of like with automation today, where it's still going to be a messy transition, but people see it coming down the pike as an issue and there's an active conversation about how to best deal with it. As opposed to what it seems like happened in the 70s/80s with the shift away from manufacturing being sudden and unexpected. Is that at all logical?
Keith Joseph was meant to be the candidate, being far more ideologically rigorous than Thatcher.