Why Margaret Thatcher Matters

Claire Berlinski on the tragedy of Post War England and its salvation by the Iron Lady.

The post-war consensus was that as a reward for the sacrifices that Britain endured, it was time to build a new Jerusalem.  Under the Attlee government, this involved nationalizing the major industries and building a cradle-to-grave welfare state.   At the time, this seemed to everyone an extremely progressive idea.  But it nearly destroyed Britain.  It nearly drove the country into the ground.  By the time Margaret Thatcher came into power in 1979, Britain, which just a few decades earlier had controlled an empire, had become the sick man of Europe.