There are many explanations for the difference in economic growth rate between Great Britain and fellow European countries Germany, France and Italy. If we look into the history of British politics we discover that a certain conservative party leader and British Prime Minster, Margaret Thatcher, had a very large impact on the economic state of Britain. The policies she was responsible for instigating are the main reason that Britain is as powerful economically as it is today. Her four main policies, not in chorological order, were privatisation, trade union reform, de-regulation and tax reform. Firstly she took away the massive amount of power trade unions had, this made it very hard for any workers to strike. As a result, the British people were now working longer hours, earning better money and therefore the country became more prosperous, people were able to support themselves financially and had extra money to spend on luxury items. The knock on effect was that the amount of economic productivity increased and soon there were new businesses springing up and new employment opportunities arose. In France trade unions still have a large amount of power and effect on a massive scale how and when the French work force do actually work. Every time a strike is called in France the economy is weakened, this is the case in Britain as well but the strikes themselves are called much less often. The mentality of the French is also slightly different than the British, as they have had longer to get used to being able to do pretty much what they wish. For example when the Euro was first introduced, the introduction of the new currency was met with calls for a nation-wide bank strike rather than a debate about the issue. This is one of the main reasons for the difference in economy strengths; the more strikes the less productive the economy.
             Another of Thatcher's policies, and another successful policy was privatisation. This involved pri...