he Economy 英國經濟

The Evolution of the British Economy since the War

The evolution of the British economy since WWII falls into threeperiods:

二戰后英國經濟發展可分為三個階段：

(1) Steady development in the 50s and 60s: The British economyin this period is characterized by slow but steady growth, lowunemployment and great material prosperity with rising standards of consumption.

(1)戰后50-60年代平穩發展時期。其主要特點是經濟緩慢而持續增長，失業率低，物質豐富，人民消費水平不斷增長。

(2) Economic recession in the 70s: In the 1970s among the developed countries, Britain maintainedthe lowest growth rate and the highest inflation rate, and the high record of trade deficits.

(2)70年代經濟滯脹。在70年代，英國在所有的發達資本主義國家中，始終保持最低經濟增長率，的通貨膨脹率，和的貿易赤字紀錄。

(3) Economic recovery in the 80s: An outstanding feature of the economic recovery in the 80s wasits length, lasting seven years. Another was the improved financial position of the government, withstronger current account of the balance of payments.

(3)80年代經濟復蘇。一個顯著特點是時間長，復蘇持續了7年。另一個特點是國際收支大大盈余，政府金融地位。

Measures taken by Mrs. Thatcher's government to improve the economy

Mrs. Thatcher's government took numerous measures to improve the efficiency of the economyduring the past decade, using both macroeconomic and microeconomic policies.

撒切爾政府運用宏觀經濟政策和微觀經濟政策，采取許多措施提高經濟效益。

(1) Macroeconomic measures were directed towards bringing down the rate of inflation andachieving price stability.

宏觀經濟政策直接針對降低通貨膨脹率和維持物價穩定。

(2) Microeconomic policies were aimed at working with the grain of market forces by encouragingenterprise, efficiency and flexibility.

微觀經濟政策旨在通過鼓勵實業，效率和靈活性共同努力提高市場競爭力。

Reasons for the British coal mining is called a "sick" industry today.

英國煤礦被稱為"生病"工業的原因。

Today the coal industry in Britain is on the decline，the number of miners, collieries and the totaloutput have been falling.

如今的英國煤礦業衰退，從而導致礦工、煤礦的數量和總產量都大大下降。

The reasons for the decline are as follows: exhaustion of old mines, costly operations of extraction,poor old equipment, little investment, fall in demand due to imports of cleaner, cheaper and moreefficient fuels, etc.

煤工業衰退的原因包括：老煤礦的枯竭，昂貴的提煉費用，破舊的設備，極少的投資，由于進口更干凈、更便宜、更高效的燃料導致的需求下降等等。

Britain's oil and natural gas

英國的石油和天然氣

Natural gas was discovered in 1965 and oil in 1970 under the North Sea. Today Britain is not onlyself-sufficient in oil but also has a surplus for export. The transport and domestic heating systemsmostly depend on oil. So does the food supply, because most agriculture is highly mechanized.Modern farming requires things which are all oil-based.

在1965年及1970年在北海發現天然氣和石油。今天英國的石油不僅能自給自足，還有盈余供出口。交通和家庭供熱系統主要依靠石油，因為大部分農業的高度機械化，食品供應也靠石油。

Main problems associated with Britain's iron and steel industry today.

如今英國鋼鐵工業的主要問題。

British iron and steel industry is declining for the following reasons:

英國鋼鐵工業衰退的原因如下：

1. Local supplies of iron ore have become exhausted;

當地貯備枯竭;

2. Old fashioned furnaces for making coke cannot recover valuable by-products;

他們生產焦炭的老式爐不能提取有價值的副產品，

3. Blast furnaces, steelworks, and rolling mills are often separated from each other and thus cannotperform as well as more compact operation;

高爐、鋼鐵廠和軋鋼廠經常分開，導致不如更緊湊的企業出效益;

4. Many steelworks have to be closed down, causing major unemployment in an area.

許多鋼鐵廠倒閉，導致該地區的大批人失業。

The main textile producing regions of Britain are the East Midlands, Yorkshire, Humberside, andNorthern Ireland. 　New Industries

New industries include microprocessors and computers, biotechnology and other high-techindustries. There are three areas in Britain which have seen some high-tech industrial growth: (1).thearea between London and South Wales, (2).the Cambridge area of East Anglia and (3).the areabetween Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland. The third area is the most spectacular of the three andis now often referred to as the "Silicon Glen". By the end of 1985 half of Britain's microchip outputwas estimated to have come from Scotland.

英國主要紡織基地是現在的中東部，約克郡和漢伯塞德郡及北愛爾蘭。

The reasons behind the decline of Britain's textile industry are:

英國紡織業的衰退原因如下：

(1) Exports of textiles have not competed well with those of other foreign producers who havemanaged to produce cheaper goods.

紡織品出口不能很好地與設法生產出更便宜商品的國外產家競爭。

(2) There has been a rise in cheaper imports of textiles to Britain from foreign producers.

英國增加了從外國產家進口更廉價紡織品。

(3) Poor and outdated management decisions have caused problem.

薄弱及過時的管理決策導致許多問題。

(4) Substitutions of human-made fibres have been made for natural fibres.

人造纖維代替品已取代了天然纖維。

(5) An improvement of output per worker has been achieved, due to mechanization.

由于機械化，每個工人的生產量有了提高。