Thomas Friedman in the New York Times:
The other very real thing Mr. Blair has done is to get the Labor
Party in Britain to firmly embrace the free market and globalization –
sometimes kicking and screaming. He has reconfigured Labor politics
around a set of policies designed to get the most out of globalization
and privatization for British workers, while cushioning the harshest
side effects, rather than trying to hold onto bankrupt Socialist ideas
or wallowing in the knee-jerk antiglobalism of the reactionary left.
The
strong British economy that Mr. Blair and his deft finance minister,
Gordon Brown, have engineered has led to spending on health and
education – as well as on transportation and law and order – that has
increased "much faster than under the Conservatives," The Financial
Times noted on Wednesday. "The result has been numerous new and
refurbished schools, dozens of new hospitals, tens of thousands of
extra staff and much new equipment."
And these improvements,
which still have a way to go, have all been accomplished so far with
few tax increases. The vibrant British economy and welfare-to-work
programs have, in turn, resulted in the lowest unemployment in Britain
in 30 years. This has led to higher tax receipts and helped the
government pay down its national debt.
Does anybody at all recognise this description?
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