Thatcher-era austerity nearly doubled exploitation while raising profit rates by half

Evidence

Th e collapse of the most powerful group of workers in the country changed the face of British labor relations. … From 1975 to 1996, rates of economic exploitation almost doubled. In those same years the profi t rate grew from 21 percent to 32 percent. … Following the advances of labor in Italy during the 1970s, austerity was reintroduced and was predictably successful in quieting and disciplining the majority. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1557

Categorization

• XREF: Exploitation and profit-rate figures connect directly to the interwar austerity chapters establishing this as a class weapon. — connects to: Britain’s gold-standard austerity doubled unemployment from 10.4 to 22.1 percent — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 514; Austere interwar policies raised measured rates of exploitation in both Britain and Italy — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 1731; The Reagan-Thatcher era redistributed wealth from poor to rich rather than abandoning Keynesianism — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 601
• DEEPTHINKING: The pairing of doubled exploitation with a 32 percent profit rate is the quantitative core of the whole book’s claim — austerity as a mechanism for capital redistribution.

Broader Connections

• Austere interwar policies raised measured rates of exploitation in both Britain and Italy #corroborates (0.90) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1731
• The Reagan-Thatcher era redistributed wealth from poor to rich rather than abandoning Keynesianism #exemplifies (0.75) — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 601