 Major defended his government in his memoirs, focusing particularly on how under him the British economy had recovered from the recession of 1990–1992.He wrote that, "During my premiership interest rates fell from 14% to 6%; unemployment was at 1.75 million when I took office, and at 1.6 million and falling upon my departure; and the government's annual borrowing rose from £0.5 billion to nearly £46 billion at its peak before falling to £1 billion".Ken Clarke stated in 2016 that Major's reputation looked better as time went by, in the same way that Tony Blair's legacy appeared to be in decline.