The economy of The United Kingdom

the united kingdom is most famously known for landmarks such as big ben their royal family and their love for tea but did you know that they are the fifth largest economy in the world and are the second largest economy in europe the uk is one of the most globalized countries in the world interacting with many countries and even the origin of one of the national dishes chicken tikka masala is up to debate you may have wondered how the united kingdom a country that is so small is able to have an economy that is so rich in this video we'll take a deeper dive into the economy of britain the uk is said to be one of the first countries to experience an industrial revolution and some historians would say that the world has to thank them for this it saw the transition of production by hand to machines leading to the mechanized factory systems we have today many industries such as the textiles industry and mining industries for coal and iron production bloomed throughout this period other countries such as the usa and germany could even be said to have copied this approach advancing to a level that they would even threaten the economic leader of britain after world war ii although the uk won their lead as an economic power dwindled and this was further made worse by decolonization which was an inevitable aspect of having the empire this meant that the previous resources that would be exploited from other countries were no longer available in britain and the swiss canal crisis served as a reminder of the decreasing british empire and marked the end of britain being a leading economic power it was no longer controlling an area that was 25 of the world's land service even though there was some economic growth reported in the 50s and the 60s after world war ii in the 70s and 80s the economic growth of britain was very low when compared to similar countries this could largely be put down to nationalizing major industries whilst other countries focused on allowing a free market economy and allowing private businesses to prosper the inefficiencies of having nationalized industries and the cost it had to keep them open coupled with other factors like the decline of the empire trade unionism and having a welfare state may have contributed to the stagnation of economic growth now this is the beginning of the comeback margaret thatcher was elected into power in 1979 and set the country on a whole new path away from socialist policies and implemented neo-liberal ideas to make the country into a self-reliant society she privatised the many state-owned public institutions mainly the service and industrial sector tax cuts trade union reforms and market deregulation were some of the other areas that she helped change she was a very polarizing figure in the uk and her decline was marked by her introduction of policies such as poll tax however even after the introduction of all these policies and joining the eu it could be said that britain was struggling to compete as they were so underdeveloped in some areas of the economy compared to other countries this limited the uk economy to service industries despite this whether it be due to thatcher's policies or joining the eu some things seem to be working as the uk saw a sustained period of economic growth all the way until 2008. after the 2008 crash the uk economy struggled and this crash exposed other underlying problems in the uk such as productivity which were previously understated and overlooked because of the success of the financial sector all in all the eu became an easy scapegoat for politicians to blame and ultimately it led to a polarizing issue with some split into remainers and other brexiteers who won by a small margin in the referendum taking a small dive into the uk's economy it's easy to think what does the uk produce the uk has a service based economy with financial services being the biggest contributor to the economy which contributes to 75 of the total gdp another important service related sector would be the aerospace industry companies like rolls royce based in the uk are known not only for their luxury vehicles but also for their manufacturing of airplane parts such as engines further britain is the home of many iconic car brands like aston martin and rolls-royce the uk also has a good image on the global stage with many people willing to invest in the country britain has recorded the third highest foreign direct investment in the world however if people send money back to their countries this hurts the economic prosperity of britain all of the foreign investment and business demonstrates global trust in the nation cementing britain as a place where it is easy to do business within the nation there are many disparities especially if you compare rural areas to capital like london which is the heart of the economy when we think of oil we normally think of middle eastern countries however did you know that the uk also benefits a lot from oil oil and gas in the north sea have contributed to a lot of the economy the national health service in the uk not only provides comprehensive health service to all uk residents it is also a major source of jobs within the country itself in fact on a global level it is the fifth largest employer in the world uk is one of the world's top exporters of weapons in the world the country has been known to sell weapons to countries who have committed human rights abuses britain also attracts a lot of billionaires and benefits from their investment and spending in the country when looking at consumer spending 65 are loyal shoppers whilst one-third of the younger generation value a brand's environmental impact giving good hope for tracking climate change all of the goods and services are taxed with that at a rate of 20 percent and are bought with the national currency the pound the oldest currency in the world which is still in use today another understated economic asset to the uk is arguably the english language it has become a global language for business trade and relations and benefits britain a lot also the culture that britain exports is an unsung success story for britain the tv shows music and creative economy has led to hits such as harry potter james bond attracting many to the country now this is more recently the country faced the largest economic decline in 300 years due to the coronavirus pandemic as gdp fell by 9.9 percent mostly all sectors felt the impact of lockdown and decline in demand that it bought however the uk's economy faced global attention after leaving the eu in 2016 formally leaving the eu on january 1 2021 it is still unclear on the impact of that divorcing from the eu will have on the uk as it happened during the pandemic will it make the uk prosperous or will it cause economic decline only time will tell brexit has even divided people's families with people's being split on whether to leave or remain however as it has already happened it's better not to talk about the usefulness of the decision and rather to deal with the situation and move forward so what do you think about the economic future of the united kingdom we are really interested in hearing your opinions and will make a great effort to reply to all of your comments please subscribe like and share to support us and help us continue making high quality content that's it for now thank you

Channel: Kingdom of creations

Views: 525

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Id: 8p9VXFHNVGY

Length: 7min 5sec (425 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 20 2022