1906-1914 (The Liberal Crisis)- Economic (The State of the Economy) Flashcards
Why was it so hard to work how the state of Britain’s economy?
Because no stats, like GDP, existed
Name Britain’s 4 staple industries?
Textiles, coal mining, ship building, steel
In 1913, what % of Britain’s exports came from its staple industries?
60%
Name the 2 main competitors to Britain’s industry?
Germany and USA
Give 4 reasons why people were still optimistic about Britain’s staples?
- Biggest shipbuilder in the world- 50% of worlds ships made in GB pre-1914
- Harsh to compare to Ger/USA- they had much more natural resource and a bigger home market
- Coal was still very profitable
- Still a leading exporter in textiles
What were the 3 most prominent ‘new industries’?
Motor vehicles, Chemicals, and Electrical engineering
Between 1850-1901, how much had the agriculture industry declined?
1/4 (approx 2m workers to 1.4m), for to machinery and oversees imports
Name 2 reasons for the the decline of agriculture?
- Lack of mechanisation
- More imported food
Why did many farmers in the c20 move from grain farming to areas such as dairy and beef farming?
More profitable, less overseas competition
What are invisible earnings?
The exportation of services as opposed to physical goods, such as banking and insurance
In 1914, what % of Britain’s services and goods were exported?
30%
by 1913, how much a GB’s total national wealth was in overseas investments?
32%
What does ‘economies of scale’ mean?
savings which can be made by producing many identical items (i.e. on a production line)
Why was a lack of research and investment into new technologies harming the GB industry?
Because it was a lot less efficient than those of Ger/USA, who had implemented these new technologies
What was an advantage of not mechanising the coal mines as much as the USA did?
More employment required- 1 million employed in mines, cut 92% manually in 1914, as opposed to only 75% in USA in 1900
