More controversial were the reductions in tariffs that have occurred over the past thirty years, but here again there are few voices that would wish to turn the clock back. Or would we wish to go back to the immigration policy we had during the first half of the twentieth century? The list could go on and on.
It is the nature of a first-rate democratic country that it will constantly be involved in economic reforms, or at least constant updating of its economic framework, and that the changes involved will generate political uncertainty and resistance. But that is the price of achieving and maintaining a first-rate set of institutions, and that is an essential condition for our continuing economic prosperity.