Which Western leader, in power between 1979 and 1990, did more than anyone else to reshape the West's political and economic ideas by demolishing the welfare state and supporting business leaders?

This is former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. She was a staunch advocate of the laissez-faire economic policies, privatization and reduction of welfare and the role of the state in this area. She slashed subsidies, gave more flexibility to labor markets and restricted union power. She increased her country's productivity and it experienced growth, but inequalities also rose with Thatcherism.