第五单元英国经济.pptVIP

UNIT 5 The UK Economy ; Absolute Decline and Relative Decline absoulute means total and complete relative means something is true to a certain degree, especially when compared with other things of the same kind The UKs economic decline is relatibe instead of absolute ;By the 1880s the British economy was dominant in the world, producing one third of the worlds manufactured goods. But by 1900 this was no longer the case, the UK hacing been overtaken by both the United States and Germany. Why we say it is relative?;Because Britain enterde the post-war world as one of the successful allies of the Second World War, with some of its chief competitor nations such as Germany and Japan, economically destoryed. But the high proportion of world trade that was British and this covered important negative facts about the UKs position since1945 The UK has experienced economic decline, but this decline is relative to some other economies rather than absolute.; Four causes for relative decline: First, the 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 United States and Canada.;Second, the era of empire was over. India gained its independence in 1947 and the rest of the empire quickly followed India to independence, leaving Britain as just a medium-size European country.;Third, Britain was forced to maintain a substantial and expensive military presence in many overseas locations until the process was completed. Also its position as one of the shapers of the post-war world required substantial military contributions. All this had the result that Britain spent a higher proportion of its national wealth on the military than most of its competitors.;Four, failure to invest in modern equipment and new products. ;Results A low rate of domestic industrial investiment coupled with a very high rate of overseas investment is still a characteristic of the UK econo