Extreme Economics – What monetarism meant for Britain, with ex-Thatcher’s advisor Tim Lankester

Say “monetarism” to anyone who was around in the early 80s and watch the chill run down their spine. Margaret Thatcher tried to conquer inflation by using a fringe economic credo of slashing the money supply. The result was a collapsed economy and unemployment on a colossal scale. What was monetarism? Did it work, even in its own terms? And where are its echoes today?

Tim Lankester – then the PM’s private secretary for economic affairs, now author of Inside Thatcher’s Monetarism Experiment – takes Andrew Harrison back to an age of scorched earth economics.  

• “She set out to get inflation down, but it didn’t work out well at all. There was a massive deflation of the economy and unemployment almost doubled.” – Sir Tim Lankester

• “Manufacturing suffered enormously. Output went down by almost 20%. These were pretty bad years for the economy.” – Sir Tim Lankester

Buy Inside Thatcher’s Monetarism Experiment through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund The Bunker by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. 

We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit.

Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Simon Williams. Produced by Eliza Davis-Beard. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Art by Jim Perrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. The Bunker is a Podmasters production 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices