Problems and Prospects for the UK Economy*

Abstract

Spokesmen for Ms Thatcher's government have repeatedly stated that the British economy was ‘the sick man of Europe’ in the years before 1979; a policy of demand management in pursuit of full employment had brought only temporary relief, whereas her government's firm policy aimed at a long‐term cure. This article considers how far this diagnosis was correct, what the new policies were, how the economy has fared in the light of these policies and the development of North Sea oil and why things turned out that way. It concludes with a brief assessment of future prospects.