"Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides." Margaret ThatcherNormally we end our little conversations with something interesting or something to go listen to, read, or watch, but since G Spot decided to upset our little literary applecart with his historical interpretation of strippers hanging upside down I figured to invert our little conversation myself. Now I have someone that I admire greatly that I want to introduce you to in a minute, but first I want you to go to Youtube and search for Bill Maher- New Rule: American Kleptocracy.
I seldom listen to him and I’m not sure why I clicked on the video but to my surprise a prominent liberal was sounding like a what would have been previously called a Republican. At about the 1:05 mark I was surprised to see our old friend from the allocation episode from April 15: the Consolidated Appropriations Act. That’s right Bill Maher was talking about the financial waste and scams in our government spending covid programs (he posited that between 25-50 % went to scammers). Families First Coronavirus Response act- $192 Billion, Payment Protection Program- $484 Billion, Consolidated Appropriations Act $900 Billion, American Rescue Plan $1.9 Trillion, and the Cares Act $2.2 Trillion. Do you notice the trend? That’s right they kept getting bigger and bigger and so did our stock market, housing prices, bitcoin, baseball card prices, and now we haven’t gotten a government monetary transfusion for awhile and look what is happening? The stock market is approaching a bear market, the bond market just finished the worst quarter in at least 40 years. Easy come and easy go… Are you starting to put the pieces together? It is a nice watch and I find it interesting how he questions why his Democrat card is being questioned because he dares to point this wastefulness out. Good on you Bill, but don’t overdo it on the reading congressional wastefulness talk. I had to take a couple weeks off and let G Spot talk about strippers before I stuck my head back in here… Back to our regularly scheduled program…
“The Constitution of Liberty” was published in 1960 and written by Friedrich Hayek, who would go on to win the 1974 Nobel Prize for Economics. This book articulates Hayek’s beliefs that the fundamental principles of liberty are the prerequisites for wealth and growth. This sounds like a simple explanation, but he was very controversial because Keynesian economic disciples had won every Nobel prize for economics until then and Keynesian economics was the prevailing force for most of the 20th century from FDR til today. The government will stimulate the economy, the government will provide price stability, and the government will spend your money more wisely than you can. My new friend Bill Maher and I seem to disagree with today’s assessment, but let’s look to history for our inspiration.
Before she was prime minister of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher was the leader of the British Conservative Party, and while attending the Conservative Research Department a speaker was presenting, likely to convince those in attendance that a more muted economic approach was needed to turn around the economic ruin that had become the UK. Thatcher actually stood up (Mark Baum style, if you have seen the Big Short, Steve Carell’s character) and took out a copy of Hayek’s book “The Constitution of Liberty and proclaimed, “This is what we believe!” and she banged the book down on the table for effect. The Iron Lady as she would later be called was not one to lead by taking an opinion poll. No, she had, what used to be called faith. Before faith defaulted almost exclusively to having religious overtones, faith was used in a manner that makes it our word of the week.
Faith- something that is believed with strong conviction
In the 1970s, Great Britain, former home to the world’s reserve currency, wasn’t the great superpower of yesteryear, but more like below average Britain. Foreign Secretary warned of a breakdown of democracy and that “If I were a young man, I would emigrate.” Clearly a country in search of a leader and luckily for them, Margaret Thatcher carried with her the faith that government that governs least governs best. She carried with her a libertarian streak and she set about to change her failing country: she raised interest rates which slowed inflation, limited public spending and reduced spending on social programs. Her approval rating crashed as this belt tightening took hold, and these self imposed financial measures were felt even more deeply as the recession in 1981 deepened. Did she lose faith? Her policy was encapsulated in her own words. “If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.”
Was she swayed by popular sentiment that screamed at her daily in the papers to do a u-turn on “disastrous” policies? No, she doubled down and raised taxes during this time and uttered the legendary line “You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning.”
She led Great Britain to a comeback throughout the 80s winning landslide victories in 1983 and 1987. She led the privatization efforts of government industries believing that private industry was more efficient than government control and she was right. She stood side by side with Ronald Reagan and fought the cold war as Great Britain was again viewed as great on the world stage. She developed a strong friendship with the American President but was quick to rebuke him when she wasn’t consulted on the American invasion of Grenada. She governed fearlessly, always doing what she thought was right for her people and her country. She resigned in November of 1990 as her party was forcing her out due to her adamant opposition to joining the European monetary union.
Looking back 32 years later and seeing her country commit a Brexit and watching inflation rise all over the European union to levels not seen since she wrangled it lower 40 years ago, I realized that she may have known what her country needed, not what they wanted, nearly three decades ago. They just had to learn it themselves. I believe many countries are going to need an Iron Man or Iron Lady in the coming years. They need someone with faith because leaders don’t lead looking in the rear-view mirror.
In 2002, Mrs. Thatcher was ranked highest among the living persons on the BBC’s 2002 list of 100 Greatest Britons, and the financial services company, Scottish Widows ranked her number 1 in its poll of most influential women of the past 200 years. Her faith in her own convictions regarding government, economics, and their place in society led her to being one of the most revered leaders of the 20th century, man or woman. We do our best to honor you Mrs. Thatcher by remembering you and what you have taught us.
"We want a society where people are free to make choices, to make mistakes, to be generous and compassionate. This is what we mean by a moral society; not a society where the state is responsible for everything, and no one is responsible for the state." Margaret ThatcherSincerely Yours,
C Thomas Printer
Also born on this date:
Mrs. Thatcher’s personal friend Friedrich von Hayek,
Harry Truman,
Mr. Anna Kournikova,
the Merchant of Venom- Don Rickles,
Sonny Liston,
Benjamin Graham,
Francis Ouimet,
David Attenborough,
and old nine fingers himself, Ronnie Lott.
Bonus Story
C Thomas: Austerity, did you know that I find the British to be a very observant and polite people?
Austerity: No, why is that G Spot?
C Thomas: Well, let me tell you a story.
Austerity: Oh boy, here we go…
C Thomas: The last time I ventured across the pond,
Douche! Excuse me, I must be catching a sniffle.
Anyways, I was sitting in a pub and this lady sits down next to me and says “What country are you visiting from?” Now I am not wearing a cowboy hat or boots and neither am I wearing a sombrero or beret, in fact I was sitting there doing my best to fit in and look British. I was wearing khakis and a button up. “I said, I am from the United States of America thank you, but now may I ask you a question?”
“Sure chap”
So now I know where she is from naturally, but I asked “I was just sitting here and I hadn’t yet said a word and I am dressed comparably to the other patrons so how did you know that I was from another country?”
“She smiles and says, “Cuz you’re so good looking love.” Can’t argue with that…