The New Mix Of Blair's First Government Economic Policies

In May of 1991, the leader of the Labour Party, Tony Blair, came to power as the new British Prime Minister. Since then the Conservative Party ended its continuously 18 year's history as the ruling party. Before the first Blair government coming to power, Mrs. Thatcher's"Laisser-faire"policy created the economic growth myth of the Great Britain. On the whole, the economic appeared growing trend. However, the"Laisser-faire"policy caused a series of social problems at the same time, such as the deeper gap between poor and rich, and the decay of social morals. Considering the present situation of economy, the Blair government advanced the"New Mixed Economy"policy.On the condition of retaining and inheriting Mrs. Thatcher's"Laisser-faire"policy, the"New Mixed Economy"policy carried on criticism and reform innovation. Meanwhile, it absorbed the Old Labour Party's viewpoint of focusing on the function, and repositioned the state function. This essay makes every effort to analyze Blair's"New Mixed Economy"comprehensively, to grasp its difference and connection with the Old Labour Party's"Mixed Economy"theory and the Conservative Party's"Neo-liberal Economy"theory, and to prove the new changes of the New Labour Party's economic theory occurred in present time. Finally, the essay considers that the"New Mixed Economy"policy complied with the development of times. Though there is something fettering the"New Mixed Economy". Its development in the future is optimistic.The main body of the essay is composed of five parts:I. The domestic and international background of the presence of the Blair government's"New Mixed Economy". In 1997, the great Britain faced with a series of problems caused by the economic globalization, such as the escape of capital, the increasing of the domestic unemployment, the huge welfare expenditure of the government and the deeper gap between poor and rich. Meanwhile, the Old Labour Party lost the trust of the working class duo to insisting on the old policy, which didn't conform to the change of times. Under such international and domestic background, the Blair government raised the"New Economy"policy to solve the domestic economic problems urgently.II. The new proposition of the Blair government's"New Mixed Economy". On the issue of system of ownership, the New Labour Party abandoned the traditional public ownership request and nationalization goal, and advocated to establish a"Participation Society"; On the issue of state and market, Blair considered that they should maintain the balance between state and market, that is to say, the market order requires the state to standardize, but the function of the state is limited.III. The concrete policy of Blair government's"New Mixed Economy". In 1997, after coming to power, Blair raised a series of economic policies; the tight, transparent, macroscopic monetary and financial tax revenue economic policies; the microscopic economic policies such as enlarging the investment, building the enterprise economy, valuing education and training, establishing knowledge economy and developing tour economy.IV. The comparison of economic policy propositions between the New Labour Party, the Old Labour Party and the Conservative Party. The"New Mixed Economy"policy abandoned the ownership issue of the Old Labour Party's economic policy, while inheriting the theory that the state has the function of regulating the market economy. Meanwhile, the"New Mixed Economy"policy was consistent with the Conservative Party's policy obviously, and it had critisism and innovation as well.V. The evaluation of the"New Mixed Economy". On the one hand, the implement of the"New Mixed Economy"policy brought the economic growth to Great Britain, which is innovatitive, pragmatic, ect; on the other hand, the Great Britain also faced with the difficult situation such as the low productivity, etc.