Economic Developments: Other Developments with Brown as Chancellor

Question 1

When was unemployment down to 1.5 million?

Answer 1

1997

Question 2

When did unemployment fall to 1 million?

Answer 2

2001

Question 3

What percentage of British people were unemployed by 2005?

Answer 3

2.5%

Question 4

How can it be seen the number of homeless people grew from 1997 to 2002?

Answer 4

44,000 homeless people in 1997. 75,000 homeless people in 2002

Question 5

What did Brown do with the controlling of interest rates?

Answer 5

Transferred control to the Bank of England

Question 6

What was Brown transferring interest rate control showing in terms of democracy?

Answer 6

Social Democracy

Question 7

What part of Labour’s proposed policies did Social Democracy appear in?

Answer 7

The Third Way

Question 8

What was inflation at in 1997?

Answer 8

2.6%

Question 9

What did Brown tell the Bank of England to control inflation at?

Answer 9

2.5%

Question 10

How can it be seen Brown was not able to keep inflation at 2.5% by 2007?

Answer 10

In 2007, inflation was at 5%

Question 11

Where did lots of government spending go to?

Answer 11

The NHS

Question 12

How much money was spent on the NHS in the March 2000 budget?

Answer 12

£2 billion

Question 13

What was the impact of spending lots of money on the NHS?

Answer 13

High inflation

Question 14

What did Brown do to pension funds?

Answer 14

He taxed them

Question 15

What was the state with the elderly population in Britain at this time?

Answer 15

It was increasing

Question 16

How many more years were you likely to live for if you were 65 in 1995?

Answer 16

Live for 15 more years

Question 17

What amount of money was lost from pensions through taxing by 2007?

Answer 17

£8 billion

Question 18

What happened with overall share values in the UK as a result of pension tax?

Answer 18

They decreased

Question 19

How much total UK share value was lost because of pension taxes?

Answer 19

£120 billion

Question 20

When was the maximum amount you could save being untaxed at £12,000?

Answer 20

1999

Question 21

How much money could you save and be untaxed by 2007?

Answer 21

£7000

Question 22

How can it be seen Blair’s government did create jobs from 1997 to 2007?

Answer 22

In 1997, 27.5 million people were employed. By 2007, over 30 million were employed

Question 23

How many 16-30 year olds were on unemployment benefits in 2007?

Answer 23

5 million

Question 24

What fraction of all working people were employed in the public sector in 2007?

Answer 24

1/4

Question 25

Why would the government not be making any money from the people employed in the public sector?

Answer 25

All money that was made would go towards their wages

Question 26

What did Brown have to do in order to cover public sector wages?

Answer 26

Borrow from foreign banks

Question 27

When did Gordon Brown sell most of Britain’s gold reserves from?

Answer 27

1999 to 2002

Question 28

What percentage of British Gold Reserves did Gordon Brown sell?

Answer 28

60%

Question 29

Why did Brown sell so much British gold?

Answer 29

To diversify the British reserve fund portfolio

Question 30

How many tons of gold were sold?

Answer 30

400 tons

Question 31

How much money was generated from the gold selling?

Answer 31

£3 billion

Question 32

How much would the gold that was sold have been worth in 2011?

Answer 32

£19 billion

Question 33

Name a newspaper that criticised Brown for selling the gold

Answer 33

The Scotsman

Question 34

What did The Scotsman reporting on Labour economic policies show about support for Labour in Scotland?

Answer 34

It was waning

Question 35

What did Britain not take advantage of in terms of foreign exports?

Answer 35

Exporting to China

Question 36

How many times more money did Germany make from selling goods to China compared to Britain in 2005?

Answer 36

6 times more