A miniseries from the New Economics Podcast which asks how have energy crises shaped our economy and what do we need to do to shockproof our energy system in an increasingly volatile world?
Ask most people on the British left about the source of the country’s economic problems, and they are likely to point to one culprit: Margaret Thatcher. The prime minister who believed in the discipline and efficiency of the free market - who wanted to crush the power of trade unions and turn ordinary Brits into shareholders.
Privatisation was central to her plans and her legacy. The list of state-owned companies sold off by Thatcher is long: from Jaguar to British Airways, BT to BP. We handed over control of the railways, water, British Steel. And from the mid-eighties, the country’s energy system was privatised too.
In this episode of Shockwave, we're asking, what does privatisation mean for bill payers? Has it left us well prepared for future shocks? And who are the winners and losers in our current energy system?
Katrina Gaffney was joined by New Economics Foundation economists Dr Alex Chapman and Jaya Sood, alongside writer and academic Gareth Fearn.
The New Economics Foundation website: neweconomics.org/
Follow our Instagram: www.instagram.com/neweconomicspod/
Follow our Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@neweconomicspod
Produced by Margaret Welsh and Katrina Gaffney.
The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more about becoming a NEF supporter at: neweconomics.org/donate/build-a-better-future
New Economics Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1055254
Music by Maarten Schellekens, Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org/music/maarten-…ike-clockwork/ used under Creative Commons licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
