TheUKEconomy..doc

The economy development of the UK is based on its geographic features, climate, and history. The British people act according to circumstances, e.g. adopt measures suiting local conditions, and achieve a big success. The UK lies in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north coast of Europe. It is separated from the rest of Europe by the English Channel in the south and the North Sea in the east. Britain is an island country surrounded by the sea. For these it has advantages to develop international business,ocean shipping and tourism. The UK has plentiful natural resources such as coal, iron and petroleum etc. It has advanced industry and in its history has been called “workshop of the world”. It has wild climate. Its agriculture develops very well. The cotton planting improved the development of textile industry. I. Absolute and relative decline of the British Economy 1. by the 1880s, dominant in the world --- 1/3 of the world’s manufactured goods; 1/2 of the world’s coal, iron and cotton; shipping is greater than the sum of the rest of the world 2. by 1900, overtaken by the U.S and Germany 3. From 1945(the year when WWII ended) until present, thought of as relative decline because of steady economic growth and rapidly increasing living standards and still remaining one of the Group of Seven industrial economies(七大工业国:US, UK. Germany, France, Japan, Italy and Canada), but other countries developed more rapidly, so it slip from being the 2nd largest economy to being the 6th. 4. Causes for the relative decline 1) Gone into heavy debt to finance the war (selling many accumulated overseas assets, borrowing large amounts from the US and Canada) 2) British colonies which used to provide raw materials and big markets gained independence —the end of the era of empire *Supplementary note: In the 17th C., trade between Britain and India started, which was undertaken by a trading company called the East India Company. In 1813, Britain took over the company. At th