ABSTRACT
In 1979, after years of co-operation between governments of both parties and the trade unions had culminated in unemployment and inflation, the unions were rejected by many of their own members and a new British Government was elected with a commitment to the Free Enterprise Capitalism of Adam Smith. Armed with the New Economic Bible, it set off on a crusade towards the New Jerusalem. A huge bonfire was built for the destruction of restrictive practices, whether carried on by big business, powerful unions, or secretive professions. In its chronicle of the Entry into the Promised Land, the 1989 version of the New Economic Bible reflects the confident monetarist spirit of the 1980s. For many years, Orthodox theorists found it difficult to come to terms with reality. Excuses of ever increasing ingenuity were invented to explain why a country like Britain, with markets more flexible than at any time in its history had suffered a massive and sustained increase.
