Conservative Government, British Decline and Japanese Success, 1979–1990

Abstract

It is well established that the policies adopted by Conservative governments led by Margaret Thatcher were strongly influenced by ideas of long-term national decline, with the work of Martin Wiener and Corelli Barnet often used to provide an historical rationale for change. What has not been much explored, however, is the way that Conservative policy was also often based on a complementary rationale based on the experience of contemporary Japan. There, it was argued, pro-business policies of the sort which had allegedly perished during Britain's long-term economic decline had resulted in outstanding economic success and provided the blueprint for restoring Britain's own economy to its former strength.