二战后的英国经济英文Word格式文档下载.docx

二战后的英国经济英文Word格式文档下载.docx

《二战后的英国经济英文Word格式文档下载.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《二战后的英国经济英文Word格式文档下载.docx（16页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

TheEconomyoftheUnitedKingdomafterWorldWarⅡ

Abstract:

BeforetheWorldWarⅡ,Britainwastheoldestindustrialcountryintheworld.Bythe1880s,Britisheconomywasdominantintheworld.Althoughby1900thiswasnolongerthecase,andtheUnitedKingdomhadbeenovertakenbyboththeUnitedStatesandGermany,Britainstillhadanobviousadvantageofeconomy.However,afterWorldWarⅡ,itisstainablebutmisleading,andthereisaperiodasoneofdecline.Maybethisdeclineisrelativetosomeothereconomiesratherthanabsolute,butthisrelativefailureisaseriouscauseofconcerntotheBritishinternalcondition.

Keyword:

theeconomyoftheUnitedKingdom,WorldWarⅡ,decline,thereasonsofdecline,resuscitation,MargaretThatcher’sgovernment,softpolicies,currentBritisheconomy,primaryindustries,secondindustries,tertiaryindustries,Britishindustries,Britishagriculture.

TheEconomyofTheUnitedKingdomafterWorldWarⅡ

1.ThecurrentsituationofEnglisheconomy

TheUnitedKingdomofGreatBritainisamajordevelopedcapitalistcountry.Itisnowtheworld’ssixthlargesteconomyandhasagrossdomesticproduct（GDP）ofUS&

2645billion（2010）andisforecasttohavethestrongestbusinessenvironmentofallmajorEuropeaneconomiesfortheperiod2007to2011.TheUnitedKingdomisnotonlyamemberoftheG7,G8,G-20majoreconomies,butalsoamemberoftheWorldTradeOrganization.Itisaleadingglobaltradingnation,asthesecondlargestexporterandthirdlargestimporterofcommercialservices,andthetenthlargestexporterandsixthlargestimporterofmerchandise（2007）.

2.ThedeclineofEnglisheconomyafterworldwarⅡ

Here,wemainlytalkabouttheBritishEconomyafterWorldWarⅡ.

Britainistheoldestindustrialcountryintheworld.Bythe1880s,Britisheconomywasdominantintheworld;

producingonethirdoftheworld’smanufacturedgoods,halfitscoalandiron,halfitscotton.TheamountofBritishshippingwasgreaterthanthatintherestoftheworldputtogether.Althoughby1900thiswasnolongerthecase,theUnitedKingdomhavingbeenovertakenbyboththeUnitedStatesandGermany,Britainstillhadanobviousadvantageofeconomy.Unfortunately,certainlyfrom1945untilthepresent,itisstainablebutmisleading,asithasinfactbeenaperiodofsteadyeconomicgrowthandrapidlyincreasinglivingstandards.BritainremainsoneoftheGroupofSevenlargeindustrialeconomies.Buttherearereasonsfordescribingthisperiodasoneofdecline.Britainenteredthepost-warworldasoneofsuccessfulalliesoftheSecondWorldWar,withsomeofitschiefcompetitornationssuchasGermanyandJapan,economicallydestroyed.AlsoBritainwasthecenterofastillvastempire.Accordingtothefigures,theUnitedKingdomwassecondonlytotheUnitedStatesintheinternationaleconomy.ThusBritainwastheninanapparentlystrongeconomicposition,apositionitclearlynolongeroccupies,whichindicatessomesortofdecline.Andthebasicpositive-seemingfactsdescribingthesizeofeconomy,thehighproportionofworldtradethatwasBritish,andsoon,in1945,didnotrevealimportantnegativefactsabouttheUnitedKingdom’spositioneventhen.

3.ThereasonsofthedeclineofBritisheconomy

Thereareseveralreasonsexplainingtheappearance.

3.1.Britishheavilydebtbecauseoffinancingthewar

Thecountryhadgoneheavilyintodebtinordertofinancethewar,sellingmanyofitsaccumulatedoverseasassets,andborrowinglargeamountsfromtheUnitedStatesandCanada.ThesedebtsmeantthattheUnitedKingdomenteredthepost-warerawithamajoreconomicproblem.

3.2.IndiagotoutoftheBritishcontrol.

Theeraofempirewasover.India,popularlyknownas“TheJewelintheCrown”oftheBritishEmpire,gaineditsindependencein1947,only2yearsaftertheendofthewar.Thiswasthelargestelementintheempire,providingrawmaterialsandabigmarketforBritishgoods.ThisrelationshipwithIndiawasnolongeravailable,andtherestoftheempirequicklyfollowedIndiatoindependence,leavingBritainasjustamedium-sizeEuropeancountry,withapopulationonlyonefifththesizesoftheU.S.

3.3.Britainspentahigherproportionofitsnationalwealthonthemilitary.

Despitetherelativelyrapidandtrouble-freeprocessofdecolonization,Britainwasstillforcedtomaintainasubstantialandexpensivemilitarypresenceinmanyoverseaslocationsuntiltheprocesswascompleted（mostlybytheendofthe1960s）.Alsoitspositionasoneoftheshapersofthepost-warworldrequiredsubstantialmilitarycontributions–bothasoneoftheNATO’smajorpartners,andasamemberoftheUNSecurityCouncil.AllthishadtheresultthatBritainspentahigherproportionofitsnationalwealth（andespeciallyofitsresearchanddevelopmentbudget）onthemilitarythanmostofitscompetitors.Militaryexpendituretendsnottogenerateaneconomicreturninquitethesamewayasotherindustrialinvestment.

3.4.Britisholderequipmentmadetheoutputlowerthanothers.

AlthoughBritainwasquitebadlydamagedbyGermanbombingduringthewar,itsindustrysurvivedcomparativelyunaffected.Thiscontrastedgreatlywithsomeofitscompetitors–especiallythemainlosersintheconflicts,GermanyandJapan,whoalmosthadtostartagainfromnothing.Thisapparentdisadvantageforthemmayhaveworkedintheirfavorinthatastheyhadtoinvest,theycouldinvestinthemostmodernequipmentandnewproducts.Britishindustry,however,couldcontinuewithitsolderfactoriesandpre-warproducts,andgiveitsothereconomicproblems,didso–aprobleminthelong-term.Italsomeantthatoutputwasinitiallyverylowinthesetwopotentiallylargeeconomies:

sowhileBritainlookedsecurelywealthierthanthemin1945,acatching-upwiththeUnitedKingdomwasinevitableastheyrecovered.

3.5.Thefailuretoinvestsufficientlyinindustry

Thefailuretoinvestsufficientlyinindustryalsoreflectsalong-standingandcontinuingproblemintheUnitedKingdomeconomy.Evenwithouttheparticularcircumstancesofthepost-warworld,relativelylowratesofinvestment（theamountofmoneybusinessesputasidefromprofitstoreinvestinthebusinessinnewproductsandproductionmethods）werecharacteristicoftheBritisheconomyinrelationtootherdevelopedeconomies.EconomistshavepointedtothelackofcloserelationshipbetweenindustryandbanksintheUnitedKingdom–againthecontrast,particularlywiththetwomostsuccessfulpost-wareconomy,JapanandGermany,wherebanksandindustrialfirmshaveverycloselinks.EconomichistorianshavesuggestedthatthismaybeduetothefactthattheUnitedKingdomwasthefirsteconomytoindustrialize,andindustrialfirms,withoutforeigncompetition,grewusedtofinancingtheirowndevelopment,withoutneedtoborrowfrombanks.Bankstherefore,notabletofindgoodinvestmentopportunitiesintheUnitedKingdom,lookedoverseasforinvestmentopportunities.AlowrateofdomesticindustrialinvestmentcoupledwithaveryhighrateofoverseasinvestmentisstillacharacteristicoftheUnitedKingdomeconomy.So,amongstEuropeannations,BritainisthelargestinvestorinChina,butsellsfewerofitsownmanufacturedgoodsherethandoGermanyorFrance.

ThepointtonoteisthatthecomparativelystrongeconomicpositionBritainfounditselfin1945wasinmanywaysdeceptive.SothedeclinefromBritain’sapparentlygoodfortunesatthatpointuntilnowisthusnotasextraordinaryasitmightseem,beingtheresultofalreadyexistingbasicproblems.Anditshouldalsoberememberedthatthiswasnotanabsolutedecline:

Britainisnotpoorer,orproducinglessthanitwasin1945,infact（likemostcountries）itisalotwealthierandmoreproductivethanitwasthen.Theproblemisthatthoughithasimproved,othercountieshaveimprovedmorerapidly,hencetheslidefrombeingthe2ndlargesteconomy（aftertheUnitedStates）tobeingthesixth,asitisatpresent.AndevenmanysmallereconomieshaveovertakentheUnitedKingdomintermsofoutputperheadofpopulation.SotheUnitedKingdomhasexperiencedeconomicdecline,butthisdeclineisrelativetosomeothereconomiesratherthanabsolute.Nevertheless,thisrelativefailureisaseriouscauseofconcerntotheUnitedKingdomgovernments.

4.TheresuscitationofEnglisheconomyinMargaretThatcher’sgovernment

Thephenomenonculminatedinthewinterof1979whentherewerewidespreadstrikes.TheLaborgovernmentfacedavoteofnoconfidence,whichitlost,causingageneralelection.ThiswaswonbytheConservativesundertheirleaderMargaretThatcher,whothusbecametheUnitedKingdom’sfirstwomanPrimeMinister.

Shewasaradicalinconservativeterms,committedtotheideaofsmallgovernmentandfree-marketeconomics,andlessconcernedwithbeing“fatherly”thisshedismissedasthe“nannystate”,encouraginglazinessanddiscouragingentrepreneurship.Asaresultthe1980ssawthemostsubstantialchangestoBritishsocietysincethelate1940s.Partofthechangewastoundosomeoftheworkofthat1945Laborgovernment,becauseoneoftheirmajorpolicieswastheprivatizationofnationalizedindustry:

BritishAerospace;

BritishAirways;

BritishTelecom;

BritishPetroleum;

theelectricity,gasandwatercompanies,andmanyothers,includingmuchpublichousing,weregraduallysoldoff,untiltodaywhenlittleremainstobesold.Thepolicyisgenerallyseenasasuccessbecausetheprivatizedcompanieshavedoneverywell,becomingveryefficientandprofitable.Therewerenegativeconsequences;

however,astheprocessofbecomingeffi