Current Economic Situation in the United Kingdom
* Britain was the first country to start the industrial revolution in the 18th century. * In 19th century the period of British Empire, UK had the strongest economy in the world. Much of the profit was brought by its trade system which transported resources, people and capital. Due to large war expenditure during the Second World War along with end of British Empire caused a great decline in United Kingdom’s economy. * Britain began its market economy about 300 years ago. * In 1979, the situation started reverting by the advent of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He helped UK to get rid of its “sick man of Europe” or simply the economic difficulty by breaking the existing unions and shredding them in the free market. * The 1990 recession had adversely affected the United Kingdom’s economy. There was 8% decline in the UK’s economy with increased unemployment. But this situation has got reverted in 1993 when the recession ended. * Britain is a capitalist country. * The characteristic of the economic system of capitalism is that it protects private enterprise. * Britain is a trading nation. (Why?) In Britain, the domestic market is limited. So, it has to find more markets outside the country. It has to find more markets in the world. * Eg. Each year Britain exports some one-third of its gross domestic product. It is the fourth largest exporter in the world. Its exports account for about 5% of the world’s total trade volume. * Export goods: Manufactured goods, sup, chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco * Main export partners: Germany 11.6%, US 10.6%, Netherlands 8.4%, France 7.8%, Republic of Ireland 6.4%, Belgium 5.7% (2011) * Britain is also one of the world’s largest importers. * Because Britain lacks raw materials, or we may say its home supply of raw materials is inadequate, Britain has to buy up a large proportion of the raw materials sold in the world market. Britain’s major trading partners are