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Tim Smyth's avatar

I am going to have more to say on this post but I would recommend watching this video of Adam Posen of the Peterson Institute arguing that Brexit was not going to make the UK some free market paradise akin to Hong Kong of the 1970s instead it turn Britain into Britain of the 1970s.

https://youtu.be/EcIkIz98zXU?t=817

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Thomas M Gregg's avatar

One difference that strikes me when comparing the Winter of Discontent to the current situation in Britain is the overall political situation. In the former case it was much easier to name a culprit: the militant labor unions, who were holding the Labour Party and the country hostage to their demands. There was a sharp, bitter ideological edge to the WoD that seems not to be present today.

Of course, it would be possible to cast the climate-change Greens in the role once played by the unions. While green policies are not solely to blame for the current crisis, they have played a role, e.g. by making the UK over-reliant on "renewable" energy. Thus when the usually blustery North Sea quieted down, wind-generated energy suddenly became unavailable. In the US, this would have provided the GOP with a great talking point. But in Britain, both major parties tug their forelock to Green orthodoxy.

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