1. 4월 10일 과제
마감: 4월 13일
What is the the legacy of Margaret Thatcher, who died today? What kind of Britain did the country's
first woman prime minister come to rule in 1979 - and how has it changed? She may or may not have
caused it, but Britain under Thatcher saw huge economic, demographic and cultural change. These are
just some of the facts.
Unemployment
As Britain learnt to come to terms with the idea of "no such thing as society", unemployment shot up
under the Conservatives to levels not seen since the Great Depression. The figures show how it lags
behind the economy - even after the recession was over, many were unemployed.
The economy
Britain got hit by two major recessions under Thatcher, which sandwiched the boom of the 1980s but
even that boom never saw GDP grow by more than a couple of percent. Obviously in 2013, George
Osborne would kill for growth of 2.2%.
If the deficit is the obsession of this government, in 1979 it was inflation, which had rocketed into the
twenties in the 1970s.
The figures show how it went down under the Conservatives - after a struggle as it rose to 21% in the
1980s - decreases which largely continued under Labour and have only just started to reverse.
Perceived wisdom is also that manufacturing disappeared under Thatcher. If so, it was something that
had already started. In 1970, manufacturing accounted for 20.57% of UK GDP. By 1979 that was down
to 17.62% of GDP. By the time she left office, that decline had continued - albeit at a slightly slower
pace, down to 15.18%. Now it is much lower, according to the Office for National Statistics - down to
9.86% in 2010.
