Winseer:
There are some comparisons to our time and the 60’s now.We’re past a “zenith” of how good things were when Labour was spending money rather than fixing the roof when the sun was shining, in the era between 1997 and 9/11 I’m thinking now in particular.
The Labour government’s spending of money had nothing to do with the economic calamity that occurred in the markets, and the proper role of the state is not simply to tax people and run huge budget surpluses, so that there is public money available from time to time when free market banking goes bust and private interests have to be bailed out to avoid social and economic destruction.
The fundamental problem with the banks is that they were regulated too little - decisions that go back to the 70s and 80s (under Thatcher and Reagan). I accept Labour was responsible for not re-regulating the banks, but the Tories haven’t done much on that front either.
The real critique I would make of New Labour is that they did too little to ensure wages stayed high and rents stayed low, and in the process saw social security budgets balloon paying for working tax credits and housing benefits - basically, subsidising the miserliness of employers and the excesses of landlords, and thereby converting taxpayer money into the unearned incomes of the propertied classes.
This is amongst the reasons why working class people now spit on the floor at the mention of Blair and New Labour.