Clinton the New Thatcher?

Many in the European media are comparing Hillary's candidacy with that of Britain's first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. Needless to say, this totally unwarranted comparison does a grave injustice to Lady Thatcher and her great legacy.

For those of you who don't know, Thatcher was Reagan's counterpart during the 1980s, and was the best prime minister in modern history alongside Winston Churchill. Both Reagan and Thatcher shared the same economic philosophy in free markets and individual freedom. They both believed in a postive-sum world where anything was possible if only the constructive forces of individual human creativity could be unleashed from the clutches of overburdensome government. The fact that they both were in office at the same time was a Godsend: it was crucial to the spread of capitalism and to Soviet Communism's fall.

If one visits the City of London today, one will be taken aback by the sheer economic dynamism that fills the city. Construction of new skyscrapers tower over young bankers, accountants, and corporate lawyers roaming the streets. Wealth creation is simply soaring, and both the rich and poor are benefiting.

All of this is thanks to Thatcher, whose reforms turned the country around from a stagnant backwater in the 1970s to an economic powerhouse in the 80s. London is now the undisputed financial capital of Europe (and stands to soon overtake New York as the financial capital of the world, unless Congress repeals Sarbanes-Oxley).

Ms. Clinton, on the other hand, believes in a zero-sum world where one person can only benefit at the expense of another. Where high taxes and high spending are standard policy. Where trial lawyers and labor unions run the show. Where competition through school choice and vouchers are never an option. Where government, not individuals, is considered the only source of good in society. As David Boaz at the Cato Institute puts it:

For more than 15 years now, Hillary has been the incarnation of Big Government. She votes with taxpayers only 9 percent of the time, according to the National Taxpayers Union. She calls herself a “government junkie.” She says, “There is no such thing as other people’s children” and calls for ”a consensus of values and a common vision” for 300 million people. She was best known in her White House years for heading a team of 500 bureaucrats organized into 15 committees and 34 working groups to recreate in 100 days one-seventh of the American economy. After health care, she told the New York Times, her next project would be “redefining who we are as human beings in the post-modern age.” Or, as the Times put it, “She wants to make things right.” She just might be the scariest collectivist this side of Al Gore.

Anyway, UCLA Law Professor Stephen Bainbridge had a good post today on his blog, showing more of the dramatic differences that exist between Ms. Clinton and Lady Thatcher, using quotes from both. Rather than repeat them here, I invite you to read them yourself. Which I know none of you will, because ya'll aren't total nerds when it comes to this stuff like me.