Economics Flashcards
Tanganyika Groundnut Scheme
Cost £49 million
Yielded 0 groundnuts
Scheme ran 1946-51
Electricity was rationed into the…
1950s
How was money from Colonial Development and Welfare acts mismanaged?
In Southern Rhodesia and Kenya funding was often given to projects managed by white settlers (who exploited African labour)
Labour government devalued the pound in…
1949 (made the dominions angry)
Colonies were forced to lend Britain more money than was being invested in them
1945-51
Western Europe was experiencing a dramatic post-war recovery in…
1950s
EEC emerged
1957
Britain applied for (and failed to gain) EEC membership
1961 and 1967
Why did the British not gain EEC membership?
De Gaulle vetoed British membership as the British had wanted to continue a special relationship with their Empire
British finally gained EEC membership
1973
Gambia Poultry Scheme
Aimed to yield £1 million in profit and 20 million eggs per year but in reality the majority of the chickens died of typhoid
Sterling Crisis
November 1967 - British government forced to devalue sterling in order to keep British imports and exports competitive
Further Colonial Development Acts were passed in…
1949 and 1950
Immediately after WWII, trade with the Commonwealth grew
By mid-1950s…
Imports = 4% increase
Exports = 2% increase
In 1951, what percentage of overall British imports and exports came from/went to the Commonwealth?
In 1951, Commonwealth = 49% British imports and 54% British exports
% of British overseas investments in shares and securities were in Empire companies and governments
1956, 58% of all British overseas investments in shares and securities were in Empire companies and governments
Imports from Western Europe into Britain surpassed those from the Commonwealth in…
1965
By mid-1950s, X % more British exports went to Western Europe than to Empire
5% more (less reliant on Commonwealth as a market for British goods)
Exchange Control Act
1947 - strengthened the Sterling Area
Common trade policy
Had to purchase more imports from Britain
Sterling Area
Post WWII it became a closed economic bloc which comprised of 25% of the world’s population and trade, exceeding the dollar area
End of the Sterling Area
1967 - British government has to devalue sterling in order to make British imports and exports more competitive (sterling was no longer stable enough for countries to want to peg their currencies to it)
