For some, Liz Truss’s headline policies since she became the UK’s prime minister have been shocking. Markets have been shocked, voters have been shocked, and many of her own colleagues in the Conservative party seem a little uncomfortable.
So what is the prime minister thinking exactly? Is she an economic outlier, or are her ideas a modern interpretation of tried and tested policies of the past?
There has been much discussion for instance, of “trickle-down” economics, where the idea is that increased wealth for the richest is eventually passed on to the poorest. Plenty of talk too of “supply-side” economics, and the theory that decreased regulation and lower taxes leads to lower prices and more jobs.
At first glance then, Truss has aligned herself with some of the core ideas introduced to British politics by her predecessor, Margaret Thatcher, which have dominated the Conservative party’s economic thinking for…