British disease: Difference between revisions
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== Sources == | == Sources == | ||
* Michael Maurer. Kleine Geschichte Englands. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2007. | * Michael Maurer. ''Kleine Geschichte Englands''. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2007. | ||
Revision as of 10:54, 14 May 2012
Economic troubles that began after the Second World War (when the British economy grew more slowly than the Continent) and peaked in the 1970s (when Britain was called "the sick man of Europe").
The symptoms were low industrial productivity, high wages, inflation and a declining share in the worldwide export market (1954: 20%, 1975: less than 9%; [Maurer 462]); the most evident sign was the Winter of Discontent in 1978/79.
The cure was Thatcherism, at least according to her supporters. Thatcher cut income taxes and the welfare state, privatised state-owned enterprises and curbed the influence of the trade unions. However, it is not clear whether Britain's economic troubles were really homemade, as Thatcher informed the public, or the result of economic changes worldwide (Maurer 462).
Sources
- Michael Maurer. Kleine Geschichte Englands. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2007.