The economy of great britain Text a
Great Britain is a highly-developed naval and industrial power. Its economy was primarily based on private enterprises. However, some industries were nationalized after World War II. Now it has a mixed private- and public-enterprise economy1. The government controls the coal-mining and electric power industries, ferrous metallurgy and shipbuilding. Part of public transport, civil aviation and national bank are also managed by the state.
The main sectors of British economy are manufacturing, services and agriculture. The share of industry in GNP2 is 11 times more than that of agriculture. Manufacturing plays a vital role in British economy. It accounts for 1/5 of the GNP and employs less than 1/3 of the workforce3. Small companies predominate, though companies with 500 or more employees employ a larger percentage of the workforce.
The rise of Great Britain as an industrial nation4 was partly due to5 the presence of considerable mineral resources, the most important of them being coal and iron. Next to coal and iron the chief minerals found on the British Isles are the building stone, marble, granite, slate, lead, tin, copper, zink, salt and china clay. But in the course of the last hundred years many of Britain’s most valuable and accessible deposits have been worked out.
Coal-mining, metallurgy, textile, shipbuilding are the older branches of industry. The new industries are the chemical, electrotechnical, automobile, aeromissile and electronics. The new industries have developed hand in hand6 with science and technology and are equipped to meet present technical demands.
Big cities and towns such as London, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield and Birmingham have enterprises of nearly all branches of industry. The main centres of cotton and woolen industry are Leeds, Bradford and Manchester.
Text B
Services play an important role in British economy and make up1 an increasing proportion of the national income2. They account for about 60 per cent of gross domestic product and 68 per cent of employees. This sector includes health, education, retail and wholesale trade3, tourism, financial and business services, insurance4, transport, etc.
Banking, finance, insurance, business services and leasing account for 14 per cent of the British economy’s total output. London has the world’s largest insurance market, and its banks are responsible for5 about a fifth of the international bank lending. London is the world’s principal trading centre for commodities, as well as an increasingly important centre for financial futures markets.
Britain’s banking system comprises the Bank of England, the commercial banks, branches of foreign and Commonwealth banks6 and building societies7. The Bank of England acts as the government’s bank. It helps to implement the government’s financial and monetary policy and supervises the banking system as a whole. Commercial banks provide financial services to individuals and companies, particularly account and loan facilities. Building societies accept deposits8 and arrange mortgages9 for house purchase. They also offer home loans and a wide range of banking and insurance services.
Britain has an open economy, in which international trade plays a vital role. About one-quarter of its gross domestic product comes from the export of goods and services. It is the fifth largest trading nation in the world. Since 1973 Britain has been a member of the European Economic Community, an association of 12 democratic states. About half Britain’s trade is with its European Community partners. Britain’s main exports are automobiles, textile, machinery, aircraft, electronic equipment and many others.
Text C
Agriculture is one of the most important sectors in British economy. It supplies nearly 2/3 of the country’s food and directly employs about 2.5 per cent of the working population. However its share1 of the gross domestic product2 is less than 3 per cent — the lowest figure among the developed countries.
Great Britain is self-sufficient3 in milk, eggs, to a very great extent4 in meat, potatoes and wheat. However it has to import butter, cheese, sugar, tea, fruit and some other agricultural products.
There are more than 250 thousand farms in Great Britan. Most of them are small family farms, where all the work is done by the farmer and his family. The tendency in agricultural development of the country is the disappearance5 of small traditional farms as they cannot compete6 with big industrial farms.
The types of farms are different in different regions of the country. In the East most farmers grow such crops as barley, wheat, sugar beets and potatoes. In the West climate is good for the production of farm animals. The greater part of the land here is used for dairy and beef cattle breeding, and sheep farming. There are a lot of farms where farmers grow some crops and breed some farm animals. These farms are known as mixed farms.
British agriculture is efficient for it is based on modern technology and research. The work in agricultural sector is highly mechanized. Computers and different agricultural machines are used by the farmers in Great Britain.