Autumn 1979 to Summer 1980

Abstract

Another year passed, and unanswered questions of last summer remain unanswered.’ Mrs Thatcher’s government has had just over a year of office. The novelty of a new government has evaporated. Ministers remain untested by adversity and the unexpected: we still do not know what they are like. Can they really be what they seem? Monetarism, one might have thought, is no creed for politicians. Are there votes in setting the controls, standing back and waiting years for the results — meanwhile doing nothing? Perhaps not, but this has not been demon-strated. The government goes on. The economic situation worsens. No one notices. Nobody says the Emperor is naked. Ministers, even, seem not to notice. I am told that when Howe has briefing sessions on the state of the economy, it is about the stock exchange that he asks, not output or employment. It is as if we have been brainwashed not to talk of real things, deception has taken root, and we are all sleepwalking.