The last time a freshly minted Labour government unabashedly campaigned on an ambitious national industrial policy to revive the British economy was 50 years ago, and the results were generally viewed as disastrous. The 1974 program of subsidies, state ownership and power sharing among business, unions and government resulted in strikes that paralyzed the nation. And the government’s goal of picking industrial winners turned into a policy of backing losers like the automaker British Leyland and British Steel Corporation. The current Labour Party has clearly jettisoned that ’70s era legacy. Keir Starmer’s new government, which formally laid out its economic agenda as Parliament opened on Wednesday, is nonetheless embracing the idea that the government must play a key role in driving Britain’s stagnant economy.

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Persons: unabashedly, Keir Starmer’s Organizations: British Leyland, British Steel Corporation, Labour Party Locations: British