第六讲-英国经济.pptVIP

第六讲 英国经济 Chapter 6：The Economy 英国经济 I. Recent History of British Economy 1. Britain was the first industrialized nation and has remained an economic giant for the past two centuries. 2. By the 1880s, the British economy had achieved global dominance, producing one third of the world’s manufactured goods, half its coal, iron and cotton. 3. Group of Seven: USA, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada. Later, Russia joined in the group, and thus changed into the Group of Eight. 4. Great difficulty and decline in economy (British Disease) for the following reasons: A. Britain suffered great losses in the two World Wars. B. by the mid-20th century, the era of the British Empire was over. Cost of the WW II 1. 357,000 people were killed and 500,000 were wounded or missing. 2. the navy was 30% smaller before the war. 3. it had exhausted reserves of gold, dollars and oversea investment, deeply in debt to the USA C. Britain was forced to maintain an expensive military presence in many overseas locations until the end of the 1960s, and as a member of the UN Security Council(联合国安理会), Britain had to make substantial financial contributions. D. Britain failed to invest in industry after World War II. While some of its competitors, especially Germany and Japan, could modernize using the latest equipment and means of production, so that they catch up with and even overtake Britain. 5. The Evolution of the British Economy since the War The evolution of the British economy since WWII falls into three periods: 二战后英国经济发展可分为三个阶段： (1) Steady development in the 50s and 60s: The British economy in this period is characterized by slow but steady growth (the average growth was 2.6%, while the growth rate for the whole capitalist world was 5.6%), low unemployment and great material prosperity with rising standards of consumption. 战后50-60年代平稳发展时期。其主要特点是经济缓慢而持续增长，失业率低，物质丰富，人民消费水平不断增长。 The economic policy it pursued was based on the theory of John M. Keynes, he suggested that the go