MORE THAN FOUR YEARS have passed since Margaret Thatcher took office as prime minister in June 1979; and with the election of June 1983, she has been given the second term that she always said would be necessary to put into effect the changes she planned for the British economy. There can be little doubt that the steps taken thus far in the “return to sound money” have marked a significant turning point in macroeconomic policymaking in the United Kingdom. There have been changes in the objectives toward which policy is ultimately directed, changes in how the instruments of policy are used in practice, and a shift in the strategic relation between the government and organized labor.
