Feature Article

The New World Order

by    Margaret, The Lady Thatcher

Contents                                       JUNE 1994

Editor's notes
Introduction
Introduction of
The New World Order
June questions and answers
June graph
Take my seat . . . please
Leave derivatives markets be
Reactions to violent crime
Violent crime and gun control laws
There's gold in them thar' non-profit houses
Foreign aid and chaos
Visitors
Letter
June quotation

Editor's notes

LAST NOVEMBER THE FRASER Institute was fortunate to host a truly remarkable event. Margaret, the Lady Thatcher agreed to stop in Toronto to speak to an Institute audience. I am sure that every member of that audience left the luncheon inspired, impressed, and somewhat awestruck.

Many of the people who speak at Institute functions are well-respected, even famous people with reputations for "making things happen." And often, when the functions are over, Institute staff remark amongst themselves that they are struck by how "like us" these people often are. They seem to be ordinary people--not in their actions, of course, but certainly in their appearance and demeanour.

Lady Thatcher is not such a person. She is in no way ordinary. She carries such energy, such single-mindedness, such sheer strength about her person, that no one could ever, under any circumstances, mistake her for anyone of average talents.

Indeed, Lady Thatcher's forcefulness and power electrified her Toronto audience. Nearly 1,400 guests sat absolutely rivetted as she delivered a crisp, no-nonsense speech. She answered questions from the audience in the same way. And when Lady Thatcher was done, the applause was long and appreciative.

We are delighted to be able to print for you in this issue of Fraser Forum the full text of Lady Thatcher's speech, and of Sir Alan Walters' introduction of her. I am sure that many of you were severely disappointed that you could not see Lady Thatcher in person. However, I can assure you that the firmness and resolve that form the underpinning of all Lady Thatcher's presentations is in no way diminished by the words appearing in print.

I am confident that you will find the June "Feature Article" a real inspiration.

Introduction

Michael Walker

I'M VERY PLEASED TO WELCOME you to The Fraser Institute's round table luncheon in Toronto today, marking our 20th anniversary. It's one of a number of events that we will hold in various parts of Canada during the year to mark our 20th year of bringing innovative ideas about economic policy to Canadians.

I'd like to express a special welcome to the members of The Fraser Institute who have come today and who of course have been patiently and faithfully supporting The Fraser Institute now for two decades. I say patiently because our work proves to be a continuing struggle to bring to Canada some of the ideas which our much honoured speaker applied in her country.

We have been asked on many occasions over the last number of weeks and months: "How ever did you manage to get Lady Thatcher to come to Toronto? It must have cost you an arm and a leg to get her to come to Toronto for this event!" Well, ladies and gentlemen, I'm very pleased to tell you that Lady Thatcher, in recognition of the 20th anniversary of The Fraser Institute, agreed to speak to The Fraser Institute gathering here today without fee. I could not, in my wildest imagination, have dreamed of a more appropriate and more fitting 20th anniversary gift from the person that we admire most in the world.

It is now my pleasant duty to introduce Sir Alan Walters, who will appropriately introduce Lady Thatcher. Sir Alan Walters is Vice-Chairman and Director of A.I.G. Trading Corporation, Director of Idea Limited and Chairman of Counter Cyclical Investment Fund. He's been a professor at John Hopkins University, the University of Birmingham, and London School of Economics, where he was the Sir Ernest Castle Professor of Economics. He's a widely distributed and published author, whose 13 books include The Economics of Road User Charges, a book, by the way, which was seminal; Money in Boom and Slump, and most importantly, his most recent book, Sterling in Danger: The Economic Consequences of Pegged Exchange Rates. This book explains why Sir Alan opposed the exchange rate mechanism, and talks about his celebrated conflict with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Lawson. Sir Alan has been chief economic adviser to Lady Thatcher, adviser to the World Bank, to various governments around the world, to central banks and to financial institutions. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in June 1983.

While these attributes would make Alan Walters a most suitable person to introduce our honoured guest today, they are not the reason I have asked him to do so; rather, I've asked him in his capacity as a founding member of the Fraser Institute's Board of Editorial Advisers, which he joined in the late fall of 1974. In that capacity, he's also provided a kind of tenuous link between the work of The Fraser Institute and the Thatcher revolution, by making members of Mrs. Thatcher's cabinet aware of the work which The Fraser Institute had done on the practical techniques of how to widen the general public's participation in the privatized shares of crown corporations. Little could he or we know that these ideas, which had been first used in the privatization of the British Columbia Resources Investment Corporation, would not generally be applied in Canada until they had been thoroughly tested under the courageous leadership of Mrs. Thatcher and her Minister, John Moore.

Ladies and gentlemen, Alan Walters has been one of the most influential economists of our time; he is also undoubtedly the fondest and greatest admirer of our honoured guest today. He would like to spend half-an-hour describing her and extolling her virtues. I have asked him to constrain his comments to five minutes. Please welcome him on that understanding.

Introduction of

Margaret, The Lady Thatcher

Sir Alan Walters

IT'S VERY DANGEROUS ASKING an academic to get up before a microphone, because when you switch them on, you know, they're pre-programmed to go on automatically for 45 minutes, but I'll try to strike 40 away and get through in five. Michael described me as a tenuous link. I've never been called that before, but I am sure it is something important. Certainly, I have enjoyed my role as an Editorial Advisor of The Fraser Institute and have been pleased to help the Institute with its research from time to time and to reflect today upon its two decades of accomplishment.

It is an enormous pleasure today to introduce Lady Thatcher, because she needs no introduction, of course. And you came to hear her, not me. But because each of you is taking away a copy of Lady Thatcher's book, The Downing Street Years, I'd like to put a couple of thoughts in your mind, when you look at it. The thing that I have always found amazing about the Prime Minister and looking back over the period from 1979 until today, one of the most amazing qualities which shines through, though it is never really discussed in her book because she couldn't, is her moral courage. Now, moral courage is a strange thing. I don't think you can acquire it; I think you have to be born with it. Lady Thatcher has moral courage which illuminates so many of these pages, and of course you can see it coming out time and time again.

I first had occasion to admire her moral courage in the 1981 budget. She had enormous opposition from all the great and the good--364 economists, no less, published their opposition and of course she was opposed by many others. She had political opposition, not just in front of her, but indeed behind her, too. But she went ahead resolutely and won the day. Perhaps you have had some local experience with the reluctance of politicians to demonstrate firm resolve when it comes to budgets--the Prime Minister--I'm sorry, I shouldn't still call her that but it's force of habit--she was remarkable in her absolute commitment to the course she felt would be best for the country.

Another occasion was her conflict with the mine workers and their Marxist leader, Arthur Scargill. While you may know of it you can have no real appreciation what it was like for her, virtually single-handedly, beating down this Marxist threat. What a wonderful job that was. But, what a tough job and what courage it took, day after day.

You will also enjoy the wonderful chapters on the Falklands' episode which in itself would have been test enough for most mortals. And of course later, just before she left office, (and I must say this) she put a bit of spine into George Bush, in his dealings in the Gulf.

Her other great achievement was her fight against the Exchange Rate Mechanism. She fought and fought again. And this fight parallels her opposition to a federal, centralized Europe. But even after she left office, I recall I was having dinner with her and news had just come in about German recognition of Croatia, and she said, (and I don't know whether she'll remember this) "This is going to light a fuse that's going to blow up in Bosnia-Hercegovina."

The remarkable thing about this long list of displays of moral courage is that in the event I believe she was proved entirely right: the 1981 budget, everyone admits it now; of course, confronting Comrade Scargill, when she chose a perfectly timed fight, she was entirely right. I believe also that she was entirely right on the exchange rate mechanism. She said the exchange rate mechanism was perverse, and it would lead also to enhanced cyclicality, and it would all end in tears--essentially, break up. So it has; so indeed it has.

Finally I'd like to say something for which I may get into trouble, but it's important that it be said. The Prime Minister, I'm sorry, Lady Thatcher, will not say it, and it's never said anywhere publicly, but she was the boss. Occasionally we called her "the boss" and indeed she was the boss, but at the same time she was always open to argument, open to ideas. And after I'd won or lost an argument with her, we would go ahead with the policy that followed from our discussion: a remarkable thing in my view for a politician to be so open to argument from a technical advisor.

One always thinks of "the Iron Lady" as a very tough Prime Minister indeed. But that toughness was combined with the most kind and considerate sort of boss anyone has ever had. That was particularly true as you got down the scale to the porters, the messengers and the drivers and all the people who keep Number 10 running. She was very considerate and very kind, in every possible way: an image that is never mentioned, let alone publicized. It is said that "no man is a hero to his valet," well, we were valets to her, and she was certainly, and still remains, our hero.

Thank you for the opportunity to be with you today on this wonderful anniversary occasion, and please welcome Lady Thatcher.

info@fraserinstitute.ca You can contact us at the above email address for any comments or information requests. Please report any dead links or technical problems.

If you know someone who would be interested in this web page, please enter their email address below, and we will forward this URL to them: Email Address:

Last Modified: Wednesday, October 20, 1999.