Episode 2076: Sir Tim Lankester on the promise, failure and legacy of Margaret Thatcher's monetarist revolution

There will be a British general election on July 4. “The most consequential of our generation” no doubt many politicians will remind the voters. But almost exactly 45 years ago, there really was a profoundly consequential British election. Back in May 1979, Mrs Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative party won power in an election that ultimately changed everything about Britain. In 1979, (Sir) Tim Lankester was the first economic private secretary to Margaret Thatcher and, in his new book, INSIDE THATCHER’S MONETARISM EXPERIMENT, he writes about the promise, failure and legacy of this radical economic gamble. Yet in spite of the economic failure of Thatcher’s monetarist experiment, Sir Tim appears not a little nostalgic for a politician with the vision and will of the Iron Lady. “Mrs Thatcher never lied”, he reminded me about a politician whose success at the polls was rooted in the trust she established with the electorate. And it’s this trust that seems most scarce now, not just in the UK, but also in the US and other late-stage western democracies.

Sir Tim Lankester has led a distinguished career in economics and public service and is an ardent supporter of charity and the arts. After studying at St John’s College, Cambridge, and Yale University, Tim went on to enjoy an career with World Bank and then in the English Civil Service, including; at the British Embassy in Washington D.C., as Private Secretary to James Callaghan and Margaret Thatcher, as Permanent Secretary at the Overseas Development Administration (now the DFID), and at the Department of Education. He retired from public service in 1994, for which he was knighted. He went on to serve as Director of the School of Oriental and African Studies (1996 – 2000), President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford (2001 - 2009), and Chair of the Council of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (2008 – 2014). From 2007 to 2015, Tim was Chair of The Place and formerly a board member of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama and Governor of the Royal College of Music. Currently, Tim sits on the boards for many charities, including; Wells Maltings Trust, Norfolk; International Foundation for Arts and Culture; MBI AL Jaber Foundation; and Karachi Education Initiative UK. Tim also sits on the Board for the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Art and Culture, University of East Anglia, and is and Honorary Fellow of both SOAS and St John’s College, Oxford.

Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.

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