The Economy of United Kingdom after World War Ⅱ二战后的英国经济CONTENTAbstract: (1)Key word: (1)1. The current situation of English economy (2)2. The decline of English economy after world war Ⅱ (2)3. The reasons of the decline of British economy (2)3.1. British heavily debt because of financing the war (2)3.2. India got out of the British control. (3)3.3. Britain spent a higher proportion of its national wealth on the military. (3)3.4. British older equipment made the output low than others. (3)3.5. The failure to invest sufficiently in industry (3)4. The resuscitation of English economy in Margaret Thatc her’s government (4)4.1. Macroeconomic measures (5)4.2. Microeconomic policies (5)4.3. Some explanation about Margaret Thatcher’s government (5)4.3.1. Free-market economic theory (6)4.3.2. Thatcher Governmen t’s Medium-term Financial Strategy (6)4.3.3. The meaning of British disease (6)5. Soft Policies Adopted by Post-war Governments (6)6. The Impetus to Change from Defeat in War (7)7. The Current British Economy (7)7.1. Primary Industries (8)7.2. Secondary industries (8)7.3. Tertiary Industries (9)8. British several industries and its present agriculture (11)8.1. British coal mining (11)8.2. British oil and natural gas (11)8.3. British iron and steel industry (11)8.4. British textile industry (11)8.5. Britain’s agriculture (12)8.6. The change of Britain’s trade pattern (12)9. Conclusion (12)Work cited (14)The Economy of the United Kingdom after World War ⅡAbstract: Before the World War Ⅱ, Britain was the oldest industrial country in the world. By the 1880s, British economy was dominant in the world.Although by 1900 this was no longer the case, and the United Kingdomhad been overtaken by both the United States and Germany, Britain stillhad an obvious advantage of economy. However, after World War Ⅱ, it isstainable but misleading, and there is a period as one of decline. Maybethis decline is relative to some other economies rather than absolute, butthis relative failure is a serious cause of concern to the British internalcondition.Key word: the economy of the United Kingdom, World War Ⅱ, decline, the reasons of decline, resuscitation, Margaret Thatcher’s government, soft policies,current British economy, primary industries, second industries, tertiaryindustries, British industries, British agriculture.The Economy of The United Kingdom after World War Ⅱ1. The current situation of English economyThe United Kingdom of Great Britain is a major developed capitalist country. It is now the world’s sixth largest economy and has a gross domestic product (GDP) of US&2 645 billion (2010) and is forecast to have the strongest business environment of all major European economies for the period 2007 to 2011. The United Kingdom is not only a member of the G7, G8, G-20 major economies, but also a member of the World Trade Organization. It is a leading global trading nation, as the second largest exporter and third largest importer of commercial services, and the tenth largest exporter and sixth largest importer of merchandise (2007).2. The decline of English economy after world war ⅡHere, we mainly talk about the British Economy after World War Ⅱ.Britain is the oldest industrial country in the world. By the 1880s, British economy was dominant in the world; producing one third of the world’s manufactured goods, half its coal and iron, half its cotton. The amount of British shipping was greater than that in the rest of the world put together. Although by 1900 this was no longer the case, the United Kingdom having been overtaken by both the United States and Germany, Britain still had an obvious advantage of economy. Unfortunately, certainly from 1945 until the present, it is stainable but misleading, as it has in fact been a period of steady economic growth and rapidly increasing living standards. Britain remains one of the Group of Seven large industrial economies. But there are reasons for describing this period as one of decline. Britain entered the post-war world as one of successful allies of the Second World War, with some of its chief competitor nations such as Germany and Japan, economically destroyed. Also Britain was the center of a still vast empire. According to the figures, the United Kingdom was second only to the United States in the international economy. Thus Britain was then in an apparently strong economic position, a position it clearly no longer occupies, which indicates some sort of decline. And the basic positive-seeming facts describing the size of economy, the high proportion of world trade that was British, and so on, in 1945, did not reveal important negative facts about the United Kingdom’s position even then.3. The reasons of the decline of British economyThere are several reasons explaining the appearance.3.1. British heavily debt because of financing the warThe country had gone heavily into debt in order to finance the war, selling many of its accumulated overseas assets, and borrowing large amounts from the UnitedStates and Canada. These debts meant that the United Kingdom entered the post-war era with a major economic problem.3.2. India got out of the British control.The era of empire was over. India, popularly known as “The Jewel in the Crown”of the British Empire, gained its independence in 1947, only 2 years after the end of the war. This was the largest element in the empire, providing raw materials and a big market for British goods. This relationship with India was no longer available, and the rest of the empire quickly followed India to independence, leaving Britain as just a medium-size European country, with a population only one fifth the sizes of the U.S.3.3. Britain spent a higher proportion of its national wealth on the military.Despite the relatively rapid and trouble-free process of decolonization, Britain was still forced to maintain a substantial and expensive military presence in many overseas locations until the process was completed (mostly by the end of the 1960s). Also its position as one of the shapers of the post-war world required substantial military contributions – both as one of the NATO’s major partners, and as a member of the UN Security Council. All this had the result that Britain spent a higher proportion of its national wealth (and especially of its research and development budget) on the military than most of its competitors. Military expenditure tends not to generate an economic return in quite the same way as other industrial investment.3.4. British older equipment made the output lower than others.Although Britain was quite badly damaged by German bombing during the war, its industry survived comparatively unaffected. This contrasted greatly with some of its competitors – especially the main losers in the conflicts, Germany and Japan, who almost had to start again from nothing. This apparent disadvantage for them may have worked in their favor in that as they had to invest, they could invest in the most modern equipment and new products. British industry, however, could continue with its older factories and pre-war products, and give its other economic problems, did so – a problem in the long-term. It also meant that output was initially very low in these two potentially large economies: so while Britain looked securely wealthier than them in 1945, a catching-up with the United Kingdom was inevitable as they recovered.3.5. The failure to invest sufficiently in industryThe failure to invest sufficiently in industry also reflects a long-standing and continuing problem in the United Kingdom economy. Even without the particular circumstances of the post-war world, relatively low rates of investment (the amount of money businesses put aside from profits to reinvest in the business in new products and production methods) were characteristic of the British economy in relation to other developed economies. Economists have pointed to the lack of close relationshipbetween industry and banks in the United Kingdom – again the contrast, particularly with the two most successful post-war economy, Japan and Germany, where banks and industrial firms have very close links. Economic historians have suggested that this may be due to the fact that the United Kingdom was the first economy to industrialize, and industrial firms, without foreign competition, grew used to financing their own development, without need to borrow from banks. Banks therefore, not able to find good investment opportunities in the United Kingdom, looked overseas for investment opportunities. A low rate of domestic industrial investment coupled with a very high rate of overseas investment is still a characteristic of the United Kingdom economy. So, amongst European nations, Britain is the largest investor in China, but sells fewer of its own manufactured goods here than do Germany or France.The point to note is that the comparatively strong economic position Britain found itself in 1945 was in many ways deceptive. So the decline from Britain’s apparently good fortunes at that point until now is thus not as extraordinary as it might seem, being the result of already existing basic problems. And it should also be remembered that this was not an absolute decline: Britain is not poorer, or producing less than it was in 1945, in fact (like most countries) it is a lot wealthier and more productive than it was then. The problem is that though it has improved, other counties have improved more rapidly, hence the slide from being the 2nd largest economy (after the United States) to being the sixth, as it is at present. And even many smaller economies have overtaken the United Kingdom in terms of output per head of population. So the United Kingdom has experienced economic decline, but this decline is relative to some other economies rather than absolute. Nevertheless, this relative failure is a serious cause of concern to the United Kingdom governments.4. The resuscitation of English economy in Margaret Thatcher’s governmentThe phenomenon culminated in the winter of 1979 when there were widespread strikes. The Labor government faced a vote of no confidence, which it lost, causing a general election. This was won by the Conservatives under their leader Margaret Thatcher, who thus became the United Kingdom’s first woman Prime Minister.She was a radical in conservative terms, committed to the idea of small government and free-market economics, and less concerned with being “fatherly” this she dismissed as the “nanny state”, encouraging laziness and discouraging entrepreneurship. As a result the 1980s saw the most substantial changes to British society since the late 1940s. Part of the change was to undo some of the work of that 1945 Labor government, because one of their major policies was the privatization of nationalized industry: British Aerospace; British Airways; British Telecom; British Petroleum; the electricity, gas and water companies, and many others, including much public housing, were gradually sold off, until today when little remains to be sold. The policy is generally seen as a success because the privatized companies have done very well, becoming very efficient and profitable. There were negative consequences; however, as the process of becoming efficient enough for private investors to buy them involved all these huge businesses in the loss of many workers. Sounemployment went up quickly in the early 1980s, from 1 million jobless to 3.5 million. So poverty has increased for the first time since the War. Government welfare payments have become less generous too. So through the 1980s many people got richer and many got poorer: Britain became a less equal society, and many thought public services, such as health, education and transport, got worse. The leader of the liberal party described the 1980s as a time of “private affluence and public squalor”. Nevertheless many businesses boomed, and simplified government regulations attracted many foreign businesses.From a clearer aspect, we know that Thatcher’s government adopted a Medium-term Financial Strategy and took numerous to improve the efficiency of the economy during the past decade, using both macroeconomic and microeconomic policies.4.1. Macroeconomic measures●The aim: to bring down the rate inflation and achieve price stability.●The measures: to apply a tight control on the exchange rate and the regulation ofmoney growth. This monetary policy was complemented by a firm fiscal policy to reduce public borrowing.4.2. Microeconomic policies●The aim: to work with the grain of market forces by encouraging enterprise,efficiency and flexibility.●The seven policies:Privatization of some state –owned enterprises;Deregulation and market liberalization replacing prices and incomes control and state intervention;Emphasis on improving the long run supply performance of the economy;Labor legislation to change labor-capital relation for the good;Reform of taxation stimulates private investment;Control over foreign transactions, company dividends, installment purchase and bank lending were abolished;Encouraging competition is among financial institutions.Owing to the Thatcher programmed, the British in the 1980s developed quite significantly. Mrs. Thatcher tried to cure the “British disease”but she failed in the end.4.3. Some explanation about Margaret Thatcher’s governmentThere are some proper nouns in Margaret Thatcher’s government. Next, some explanation is as follows.4.3.1. Free-market economic theoryIt is an economic theory put forward by John M. Keynes, a British economist in the first half of the twentieth century. It hold that the government should use fiscal and monetary policy to fine-tune aggregate demand to achieve full employment, while using prices and incomes policies to suppress inflation at source. This policy is characterized by high consumption and low investment.4.3.2. Thatcher Government’s Medium-term Financial StrategyThatcher Government’s Medium-term Financial Strategy in many ways represented a break with that of its predecessors. Its theory turned Keynesianism on its head. Privatization, deregulation and market liberalization replaced prices and incomes control and state interventionism. Unlike earlier Keynesian approach the new approach placed emphasis on improving the long-run supply-side performance of the economy.4.3.3. The meaning of British diseaseBritain is the oldest industrial country in the world. However, soon after World War Ⅱ, Britain gave up its economic hegemony. Its GDP growth rate became lower than that of its trading partners. It has been running balance of payments deficits for many decades. As a result the British pound has fallen into its lowest level. Britain is no longer able to match the growth rates of other industrial counties. The term “British disease” is now often used to characterize Britain’s economic decline.5. Soft Policies Adopted by Post-war GovernmentsIn principle, there were two broad strategies which British governments might have adopted after the war. The first was a market solution, in which the economy was deregulated and producers exposed to competitive pressures. The advantage of this strategy was that competition will penalize firms with, say, weak management or poor industrial relations. This was broadly the type of strategy which West Germany adopted after 1948, with some success. Such policies were also pursued by the Thatcher Government in the 1980s, when, as already noted, there was some improvement in Britain's relative performance. The obvious implication was that it would have been better if British governments had moved in this direction earlier. However, this conclusion may be unsustainable. For one thing, it waits to be seen if Britain's improved performance can be sustained through the 1990s. For another, there are reasons to doubt whether a market solution is always appropriate. If, for example, low growth has been due to an underinvestment in education then a market solution will not solve the problem.The alternative strategy would have been to introduce a state-led modernizationprogram. This was the direction which both France and Japan took after the war with some success.4 British economic policy, with the adoption of demand management, nationalization and active industrial, regional and manpower measures also became much more interventionist after the war. Yet, these policies seem to have been less effective. Why?One possibility has been canvassed by Corelli Barnett. He has argued that the need for a modernization strategy was clearly recognized by the wartime administration. Yet it never materialized after the war, because the immediate policy priority became the establishment of the welfare state. Barnett is probably wrong to put so much emphasis on the welfare state, which, judging from expenditure levels has been no more prominent in Britain than in other European countries. Nevertheless, he is correct to argue that Britain never developed a modernization strategy.Why did Britain not develop a modernization strategy? It is was not the intention to argue here that Britain would have achieved an economic miracle if she had been defeated in 1945. Nevertheless, the Table does did show that a number of countries, which were defeated or occupied during the Second World War, were extremely successful thereafter. One possible reason for this is that wartime damage created exceptional investment opportunities. However, this could not be the whole story; their above average performance was sustained for too long. Another possibility, suggested by Mansur Olson, is that, when a country is defeated in a war, this will lead to a change in its attitudes and policies. Business and labor become receptive to change, while governments are likely to push through unpalatable reforms and to adopt modernization policies.6. The Impetus to Change from Defeat in WarWartime victors, by contrast, are less likely to do this. There will be less impetus to change, and governments will prefer to adopt policies which reward the population for their wartime sacrifices. This is essentially what happened in Britain after 1945. At this time there was extensive state intervention, but it was not to foster modernizing as in France and Japan. Rather the overriding priority was to correct the principal economic deficiency of the interwar years - high unemployment. Thus Britain never had a modernization strategy; it was effectively a strategy for containing unemployment. Similarly, wartime victory encouraged British governments to persist with international policies of questionable economic value. Thus, in the 1950s, Britain remained a colonial power, which restricted her freedom of action, without providing many obvious economic benefits. At the same time, she continued to act as a world policeman, and was obliged to maintain higher levels of defense expenditure than her international competitors, and this generated few economic benefits.7. The Current British EconomyThe national economies of Britain can be broken down into three main areas: “Primary” industries, such as agriculture, fishing, and mining; “Secondary” industries,which manufacture complex goods from those primary products; and “Tertiary”industries, often referred to as services, such as banking, insurance, tourism, and the selling of goods.7.1. Primary IndustriesThe British agriculture is highly efficient by the standard of France and Germany . It produces 1.4% of the national wealth, with only 2% of the labor force that grow 58 % of the food needed by the nation. The high rate of production is due to the extensive use of modern technical improvements.Only parts of the country have good soil, and farmland is scare. The quarters of Britain's land is used for agriculture, with about a quarter of undercrops--wheat and barley are the two commonest. The farmland in the eastern half of the country is used for raising crops. Its chief agricultural products are wheat, barley, oats, potatoes and sugar beets. The rest is used for grazing animals, including cattle (both dairy and beef), though sheep are the most numerous livestock. Dairy farming is distributed all over the country but is characteristic of the west of England. Britain is the world's leading exporter of pedigree livestock: cattle, sheep, pigs, and horses. Cattle are bred for meat as well as for dairy farming. Sheep are found in hilly counties particularly and are bred chiefly for their meat. Britain's beef, especially the best Scottish meat, is well known for its excellence, and Welsh mutton is the favorite meat in the country. The beef industry has been hit badly by BSE disease in cattle leading to a 1996 ban on beef exports. The best agricultural land is in the southeast of England.Britain has a large ocean fishing fleet and fish is a basic item in the national diet. The fishing industry provides 55% of the United Kingdom demand for fish. The leading fish caught are cod, haddock, herring, plaice, turbot and sole. The major fishing areas are the North Sea, the English Channel, the sea area around Ireland and the sea area between English and Iceland. Scottish ports land the majority of the fish caught.Energy production is an important part of the British economy, account for 5% of the national wealth. Since 1970s, when oil and gas were discovered under the North Sea, Britain has become a major oil and gas producer, in addition to its older coal mining industry, which now accounts for only about a quarter of energy supplies, the rest being divided between oil, gas, and nuclear energy. This abundance of energy resources means that the United Kingdom has become an overall exporter of energy. The technology required to extract oil from the difficult offshore conditions has given British companies a strong position in the offshore oil industry around the world. Three of the biggest ten companies in Britain are to be found in the energy sector: Shell (half Dutch), British Petroleum (BP), and British Gas. The world's largest mining company, RTZ, is a United Kingdom company, which operates mines all over the world.7.2. Secondary industriesIn the secondary sector of the economy, manufacturing industry remains important, producing 22% of national wealth. Britain companies are active in all major fields of manufacturing industry, but are particularly strong in pharmaceutical (Glaxo-Wellcome, the British company is the biggest drug company in the world), chemicals (including plastics, petrochemicals and pharmaceutical industry, ICI being the second largest paint manufacturer in the world), aerospace (overall the United Kingdom industry is third in size in the world, with such products as VC 10, the Trident, the BAC One-Eleven, and a range of military aircraft including the Jaguar, and the Harrier, a vertical take-off and landing strike aircraft, and the Concorde, the Anglo-French supersonic airliner) and food and drink (Scottish whisky being c major export). Britain has a big electronics industry (the fourth largest in the world, which produces such products as radar, computers, radio and television transmitting equipment, industrial control equipment and consumer goods) but like the car industry (which includes Ford, GM, Peugeot, Nissan, and Toyota) is in many cases foreign-owned. Britain's last major independent car company, Rover, was recently bought by the German company BMW. A high-technology engineering industry has developed around the motor-racing business, with many of the world's racing cars, both for Formula One and the American Indy Car series, being designed and built in Britain. McLaren and Williams are two of the most successful of these companies. The recently privatized British Steel is the world's fourth largest steel company. Other manufacturing industries include mechanical engineering that produces all forms of machinery and industrial plant; instrument engineering, with a product range extending from scientific instruments to photographic equipment and time-pieces; electrical engineering, engaged in the manufacture and installation of generation, transmitting and distribution equipment, telecommunications and broadcasting apparatus, specialized laboratory equipment and domestic electrical appliances. The other leading traditional industries include shipbuilding, textiles, locomotives, food products and consumer goods.7.3. Tertiary IndustriesLike most developed economies, Britain has seen a relative shrinking of the importance of secondary industry and a spectacular growth in tertiary or service industries, which now produce 65% of national wealth. A lot of this domestic activity such as retailing, tourism, insurance, and so on, but British is also a major international provider of services, accounting for about 10% of the world's exports of such services. 70% of the United Kingdom's work force is employed in the service sector.Trade is Britain's lifeline. Britain's geographical position makes it a natural transfer point. It imports many goods that are immediately re-exported to other countries in smaller lots, sometimes after some minor processing. Britain remains one of the world's most important trading nations. It exports about one-sixth of the total world exports of manufactured goods. It buys about one-fifth of the raw materials exported in the world.Britain's traditional customers in trade were the Commonwealth countriesand its former colonies. Its trade with highly industrialized nations has gone up since it joined the European Economic Community (the Common Market) in 1973. Apart from the Common Market, the United States and Canada are also its important customers in trade now.The invisible trade makes a great contribution to Britain's balance of payment problems. Earnings from tourism, with the associated shipping, international insurance, banking fees and air services and from private investment overseas constitute one of the largest single sources of foreign currency. A government-sponsored body, the British Trade Authority (BTA) is responsible for the overseas promotion of tourism in Britain.The financial sector is an important part of this service industry, as London is one of the top three financial centers in the world. It has the greatest concentration of foreign banks in the world, accounts for 20% of all international bank-loans, and is the world's largest foreign exchange market. As well as banking, dealing in commodities and insurance are important processes in "The City"--the name given to the historic area at the center of London where all the business is concentrated, at the heart of which is the London Stock Exchange, one of the busiest share-dealing centers in the world. Advertising is another major business service in which United Kingdom companies are highly successful. Britain's unit of currency is the proud sterling (￡). It did not adopt the new decimal currency system until February 15th, 1971. Before the introduction of the new system, one pound was worth 20 shilling, and one shilling 12 pence, Following the introduction of the decimal currency system, the pound is divided into 100 pence (p). Cupronickel coins are issued with denominations of 50p, 10p, and 5p, and bronze coins with demonstrators of 2p, 1p, and 1/2p. The Bank of England notes are issued for sums of ￡1, ￡5, ￡10, and ￡20.The United Kingdom has not yet adopted the euro currency and the debate continues over when and indeed whether it will do so. The government has said a series of economic criteria must be met before the issue can be put to a referendum. In recent years, these have been divisions in both major parties as to whether the United Kingdom should form greater ties within the EU, leave things as they are, or reduce the EU’s supranational powers. Opponents of greater European integration are known as Europhiles. Divisions over Europe run deep in both major parities, and though the Conservative Party is seen to spilt over this issue, which in Government up to1997 and today opposition. The Labor Party also faces conflicting views within Cabinet over United Kingdom adoption of the Euro, and whether to ratify the new European Constitution.The Bank of England is Britain's central bank, with was established in 1694, and was brought into public ownership in 1946. It has a wide range of financial and economic responsibilities both as an agent of government policy and in its own right. It acts as banker to the government and the deposit banks. It advises government on the formulation of monetary policy and plays an important part in making agreed policy effective. In addition, the Bank is the note-issuing authority, the registrar for government stocks and banker to many overseas central banks.Besides the Bank of England, which acts as a clearing house, there are。
