蒙大英语国家-英国概况教案03 The British Economy

1、Lecture ThreeThe British EconomyThe focus of teaching: the evolution of British economy Teaching aim: let the students know the general knowledge of British economy and its major indutriesTeaching style: instruction and group discussionTeaching procedure:1. warming-up exercisesGeneral introduction t

2、o British economy by PowerPoint;3. Discussion on the assignment;4. Assignment on information- gathering = 1 * ROMAN I. The Evolution of the British Economy since the War Warming-up exercises: discuss the following two questions:Do you know any major industry in Britain? why do you think British econ

3、omy lagged behind gradually compared with other developed countries?The Evolution of the British Economy since the Second World War falls into the following three periods: Steady Development in the 50s and the 60s The Second World War devastated the Europe. The British economy suffered a great deal

4、from the war, but it suffered less direct war damage than other European countries and Japan. With the help from the United States the British economy quickly recovered. The British economy in this period is characterized by slow but steady growth, low employment and great material prosperity with r

5、ising standard of consumption. The economy policy it pursued was based on the theory of John M. Keynes. He suggested that the government should use fiscal and monetary policy to fine-tune aggregate demand to achieve full employment, while using prices and incomes policies to suppress inflation at so

6、urce. This policy characterized by high consumption and low investment also brought about problems. One of them was high labour cost, which led to Britains low competitiveness in international market. Although the British economy developed steadily in the 50s and 60s, it still lagged behind other in

7、dustrialized countries. 2. Economic recession in the 70s Towards the end of 1960s the rate of inflation began to rise. This further eroded business confidence and competitiveness. The end of 1973 witnessed the first oil shock. As a result the cost of oil imports skyrocketed. The inflation rate rose

8、to 9.1% in 1973 and to 16.0% in 1974. The second oil shock in the 1977 caused inflation to rise still further. It reached a rate of 22% in 1980. In the 1970s among the developed countries Britain maintained the lowest growth rate and the highest inflation rate. In some years of the period Britain ev

9、en had a minus growth and the trade deficits were the highest among Western countries. Economic recovery in the 80s In March 1979 the Conservative Party under the leadership of Mrs Thatcher won the election. The new government adopted an economic program known as Medium-term Financial Strategy. The

10、new economic policy was based on the theory of the new classical school of thought. It turned “Keynesianism” on its head. Privatization, deregulation and market liberalization replaced prices and incomes control and state interventionism. The immediate effect of this approach was a deep recession in

11、 1980-81, with GPD falling by a total of 2.6% in two years. However, by 1982, the downswing in the world commodity prices together with the governments anti-inflationary polices led to the dramatic falls in the rate of inflation to 8.6% in 1982 and 5% in 1983. Features of the recovery:An outstanding

12、 feature of the economic recovery in the 1980s was its length. By 1988 the recovery had lasted seven years.Another feature was the improved financial position of the government, with stronger current account of the balance of payment. Another important factor in the recovery was the surge in labour

13、productivity. The British economy in the 1980s developed quite significantly. The Thatcher program was successful to some extent. Mrs. Thatcher tried to cure the “British disease” by applying monetarism and encouraging the market-directed economy but she failed. By 1989 inflation caused by over-heat

14、ed economy had risen to 8.3%. in April, 1990 it reached 9.4%. The balance of payments worsened again. In 1989, the visible trade deficit was 23.1 billion. The new economic problems finally brought down the Conservative government headed by Mrs. Thatcher. = 2 * ROMAN II. Resources and Industries coal

15、, oil and natural gas Compared with many other countries, Britain has considerable reserves of coal. Important coal areas can be found in Central Lowlands of Scotland, North-East England, Central England and South Wales around such big cities as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Sheffield, Nottingham,

16、Manchester, Birmingham, and Swansea. Almost all the industrial areas in Britain except London and Belfast are based on coalfields. Today British coal mining is called a “sick” industry. The output of coal reached its peak just before the First World War when 286 million tons were mined, and since th

17、en the number of miners, collieries and the total output have fallen. The exhaustion of old mines, costly extraction, poor old equipment, little money being invested, fall in demand due to imports of cleaner, cheaper and more efficient fuels are all the reasons for the decline. Coal was nationalized

18、 in 1946 in Britain and it now run through British Coal( the old National Coal Board, NCB). Britain used to import virtually all of the gas and oil. Later natural gas was discovered in 1965 and oil in 1970 under the North Sea. Britain has estimated oil reserves of 13 million barrels., most of which

19、are thought to be under North Sea. Today Britain in not only self-sufficient in oil but also has a surplus for export. Iron and Steel Britain was the first nation to build a large iron and steel industry. Rich deposits of iron ore were found in central England. This area known as the Midland, had de

20、posits of coal and iron location near each other. But today the original advantages of the locations of many steelworks in the Britain have gone. Local supplies have become exhausted and the new supplies are largely in low grade. Today supplies of iron ore are mostly foreign. Compared with newer pla

21、nts in the world, Britains steelworks are not efficient. Their oil-fashioned ovens for making coke are not able to recover valuable by-products and the blast furnaces, steel works, and rolling mills are often separated from each other. As with the coal industry, Britains steel industry is declining.

22、 The British iron and steel industry ws nationalized again in 1967 with the establishment of the government-owned British Steel Corporation, and was denationalized again under the Thatcher government. Textile The textile industry id one of Britains oldest. Textiles were one of the countrys most valu

23、able exports. Woolens, cottons and synthetic fabrics are among the many kinds of cloth produced in Britain. The main textile producing regions of Britain are now the East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside, and Northern Ireland. Britains textile industry has declined markedly especially in the cotto

24、n, jute and linen production. Factories have closed down and by 1980 the workforce had been reduced to one third of the number employed in the early 1960s. The reasons behind the decline can be summarized generally as the follows:Exports of textiles have not competed well with those of other foreign

25、 producers who have managed to produce cheaper goods. There has been a rise in cheaper imports of textiles to Britain from foreign countries. Poor and outdated management decisions have caused problems. In particular, new markets have not been found and new techniques have not been used. Substitutio

26、ns of human-made fibers have been made for natural fibres such as wool, cotton, jute and linen. An improvement of output per workers has been achieved, due to mechanization. Compared with cotton, jute and linen production, the production of high quality woolen goods has not been so severely affected

27、. Britains textile industry was not nationalized. But now it has seen a major merging of national firms, so that it now has a management structure similar to a national industry. 4. Shipbuilding Britain became a world leader in shipbuilding during the middle of the 19th century. At that time, iron a

28、nd steel replaced wood as a material for building merchant ships. The success of British shipbuilding can be attributed to the following reasons. Its coal, iron and steel industries were well established. It also had many safe harbours and a good supply of labour. The two main centers for shipbuildi

29、ng were on the River Tyne near Newcastle, England and on the Clyde near Glasgow in Scotland. Today due to increased overseas competition, outdated equipment, a decline in demand and order for ships and lack of investment in the industry, many of the building and repair yards have had to close. Motor

30、 vehicle In the early 20th century the motor vehicles industry in Britain was developed in the West Midlands and South-East of England. After the Second World War, demand for cars dramatically increased and more car factories were set up in the Liverpool and Merseyside region, in South Wales and cen

31、tral Scotland. The British motor industry is now dominated by four firms (Ford, the Rover Group ,GM-Vauxhall, and Peugeot), but each of these has suffered problems. Both the older centers in the Midlands and South-East and the newer locations have suffered a loss of over 40% of their workers in the

32、last ten years. New Industries New industries include microprocessors and computers, biotechnology and other high-tech industries. There are three areas in Britain which have seen some high-tech industrial growth: the area between London and South Wales, the Cambridge area of East Anglia and the are

33、a between Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland. It is hoped that the Britain will expand rapidly in the new industries. = 3 * ROMAN III. Agriculture The British were pioneers in modern agriculture and were among the first to bring science and machinery to farming. Farming is one of Britains most import

34、ant industries. The features of British agriculture are: It is highly mechanized. In Britain only 3% of the population are farmers but they managed70% of the land area. The size of farms varies from under 100 hectares to over 800 hectares. It is quite scientific. Very modern farmers use computers to

35、day. They talk about technological framing. The new farming has been called “agribusiness”. in some areas factory farming methods are used, particularly for rearing poultry or pigs. British farming is made to be as efficient as possible with so many people living in a small area. As a result, certai

36、n areas have specialized in one particular type of farming. There are mainly six farming types in Britain:they are farming, dairy farming, stock farming, mixed farming, hill farming and market gardening. Arable farming emphasizes crop production and occurs on the more fertile soils. The chief areas

37、are in the East and Southeast. The land here is lower and flatter. There are bid fields for machinery. The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats, sugar beet and potatoes with wheat and barley as the two most important crops. Dairy farming rears cattle primarily for milk production. It can be found in

38、areas where grass grows well, so western regions with moderate rainfall, mild winters and cool summers are often important dairying areas. Stock farming rears livestock primarily for meat (e.g. beef, lamb). It is the chief kind of farming in the North and West of Britain where the climate and physic

39、al features are not fit for crops. In these areas the fields and mountain sides are covered with grass all the time and the animals live there all the year round. Beef cattle farming is famous in the East of Scotland and also in the South of Britain where pastures are good and the land is not so ste

40、ep. Chief sheep farming areas in Britain are the uplands in southern Scotland and Wales. Mixed farming has elements of cattle rearing and crop-growing. It is in most areas of rural Britain, where local physical conditions are suitable for it. Hill farming with sheep and cattle is found in area with

41、poorer soils and rougher pastures. It is usually an area of rocky mountain crags, steep slopes, little flat land and deep valleys cut by rivers. Market gardening is the growing of vegetables and fruit which can be rapidly transported to market while fresh. It is often found near large urban areas wh

42、ich provide the market for such goods as lettuce, tomatoes and strawberries. The Channel Islands, Cornwall and Scilly Isle are the greatest providers of early vegetables and flowers. In South-East London there are many fruits. The fishing industry is an additional source of food. The North Sea has v

43、ery good fishing grounds, the fishing boats fish all over the North Sea and far into the Atlantic. Today the problem of pollution and overfishing is becoming more and more serious. And most fishing is done by fishing companies, and small fishermen can find little work to do and many fishing villages are dying. = 4 * ROMAN IV. Foreign Trade British is the fifth largest trading nation in the world. It has been a major trading power since the 17th century, with the English East India Com