Max More [maxmore@primenet.com] wrote:
>Come now, Tony, you know very well that tax *rates* decreased under
>Thatcher. (They couldn't go much higher than under the previous Labour
>govt. which had rates up to 98% -- 83% income tax plus a 15% investment
>income surcharge.)
Income tax rates decreased, but other taxes increased. In particular increasing VAT (sales tax for American readers) from around 9% to 17.5% was a very significant growth in taxation. Whether one gained or lost depends to a large extent on how much of their income went on taxable items, and whether you rented or owned your own house (poll tax etc hit renters harder because their rents rarely went down with the end of the old property tax and they had poll tax to pay on top).
>For nothing? The British economy ended up in much better shape than it was.
>Anyway, more of your blame for the painful transition should go to those
>who propped up old, unprofitable manufacturing for decades.
Definitely agree on that; much as I disliked Thatcher for many of her authoritarian tendencies, she improved Britain's economy immeasurably during her time in office. Shame 'New Labor' are working to turn the clock back.
Mark