Creating a Managed Economy 1939-51 Flashcards
Managed economy
1939-51 British governments created a managed economy
Initially to manage wartime production and then to facilitate growth post 1945
Major industries nationalised
Britain economy= mixture of public and private enterprise
Wartime economy
Gov created ministries eg ministry of food- given extensive power to control running of essential wartime industries
Extensive military spending to meet shortages in military production eg:
1940= 15,000 aircraft produced
1944=50,000 aircraft produced
Post war austerity
Continuation of rationing and austerity
1) pay for cost of war
2) concentrate domestic production on exports
3) pay for developments of welfare state
Post war debts
By end of WW2 Britain accumulated £4bn worth of debt to the US
Repaying with interest= £70mill/day
Permanent pressure on value of £- fell by 30% 1949
Post war trade disruption
British trade had shrunk by 66% in immediate post war years
Nationalisation 1945-…
Introduced by labour gov
1) Coal ‘46
2) BoEngland ‘46
3) Transport (rail, roads and busses) ‘47
4) Electricity ‘47
5) Gas ‘48
6) Iron and Steel ‘48
Labours economic record 1945-51
Success:
Full employment ‘47-51
Reduced balance of trade deficit- exports grew by nearly 80%
Economy grew by 4% each year post 1948
However…
continued austerity
