Tag Archives: new deal

Opinion: An historical comparison – the Big Society vs the Great Society

In the late 90s, Tony Blair’s New Deal deliberately adopted the name of US President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1930s programme to increase public spending, create jobs, and escape the Great Depression.

Thirteen years later, one assumes that David Cameron’s Big Society (that Jeremy Browne praised yesterday) at least partially invokes another significant American liberal reform era: the Great Society of President Johnson in the 60s.

I fear that substituting “big” for “great” represents a lesser moral ambition. The Kennedy-Johnson years in America were self consciously “a call to greatness”. Politicians talked of “new frontiers”, putting an end to war, conquering …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 16 Comments
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Recent Comments

  • Nonconformistradical
    @Jenny Barnes "you go back to the last time they were sold, whenever that was, and increase by house price inflation since then." As far as I know not all p...
  • Jenny Barnes
    "Some properties may not be sold for several tens of years – how do you propose to rate those for tax purposes until they are sold?" you go back to the last...
  • Nonconformistradical
    "If yearly revaluations are too onerous, rerate on sale and increase yearly by inflation until next sold." Some properties may not be sold for several tens o...
  • Ben C
    Just revaluing & updating council tax bands doesn't seem particularly revolutionary. Why not push for a proportional property tax (or, yes, an LVT) and d...
  • nigel hunter
    Nothing wrong with having a trade or going to Uni. Port Talbot IS producing steel and will develop further with the electric arc system.I would think nobody wa...