Demand, dysfunction and distribution: the UK growth model from neoliberalism to the knowledge economy

Theories of ‘growth models’ explain capitalist diversity by reference to shifting drivers of aggregate demand in different national economies. This article expands the growth models framework beyond its conventional focus on debt-driven and export-driven demand, through an ideational analysis of Thatcher’s vision of a property-owning democracy, and Blair’s knowledge-driven growth agenda. Drawing on policymakers’ statements, it shows how these hypothetical growth models differed from the debt-driven growth model that ultimately prevailed. Using data on the distribution of wealth and wages, it highlights how both approaches failed to generate sustainable demand; in Thatcher’s case, because of an insufficiently broad distribution of capital ownership, in Blair’s case, because of an insufficiently broad distribution of lucrative knowledge work. This indicates that explanations of dysfunctional growth models need to consider not just the split of national income between labour and capital, but also the distribution of both labour income and capital income between households.