It was amazingly exciting work for people - a strange mixture of social engineering and macro-economic policy - and it was a topic in which Britain led the world.

BBC: Viewpoints: How did Margaret Thatcher change Britain?

Read back that list of coalition disagreements and it reminds you that they were issues on the margins of most voters' concerns whereas there is a surprising degree of cross party agreement on macro-economic policy, welfare cuts and schools reform let alone the proposals the two men will highlight today - be it childcare subsidies, pension reform or road tolls.

BBC: Coalition: Official - it's not a marriage

At the national macro-economic or policy level, having higher levels of employment and lower levels of unemployment are highly desirable.

FORBES: Jobs and Public Policy

The macro economic condition that set up the crisis stemmed in part from policy choices: the Federal Reserve ignored the housing bubble and kept short-term interest rates too low for too long.

ECONOMIST: The world economy