The Growth of Government

Abstract

The past three decades have seen the emergence, in countries of the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), of a phenomenon which has been termed ‘the growth of government’. This refers to the increasing importance that government activities have come to play in the economic affairs of the industrialised democracies. Many economic and political commentators regard this with some alarm. Indeed, since about1980, most government thinking in the OECD countries has reflected the view that the economic frontiers of the state should be rolled back. Mrs Thatcher, on becoming prime minister in 1979, signalled the start of the ‘Conservative revolution’ in economic policy which, with the subsequent election of President Reagan and Chancellor Kohl, quickly spread beyond Britain and one of the ideological pillars of this revolution was that there was a need for less, not more, government.