Chapter 6

      第六章

    The Economy 英国经济

    I. The Evolution of the British Economy since the War

    The evolution of the British economy since WWII falls into three periods：

    二战后英国经济发展可分为三个阶段：

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

    （1）战后50-60年代平稳发展时期。其主要特点是经济缓慢而持续增长，失业率低，物质丰富，人民消费水平不断增长。

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

    （2）70年代经济滞胀。在70年代，英国在所有的发达资本主义国家中，始终保持更低经济增长率，更高的通货膨胀率，和更高的贸易赤字纪录。

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

    （3）80年代经济复苏。一个显著特点是时间长，复苏持续了7年。另一个特点是国际收支大大盈余，政府金融地位更高。

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

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

    撒切尔政府运用宏观经济政策和微观经济政策，采取许多措施提高经济效益。

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

    宏观经济政策直接针对降低通货膨胀率和维持物价稳定。

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

    微观经济政策旨在通过鼓励实业，效率和灵活性共同努力提高市场竞争力。

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

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

    英国煤矿被称为“生病”工业的原因。

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

    如今的英国煤矿业衰退，从而导致矿工、煤矿的数量和总产量都大大下降。

    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 more efficient fuels， etc.

    煤工业衰退的原因包括：老煤矿的枯竭，昂贵的提炼费用，破旧的设备，极少的投资，由于进口更干净、更便宜、更高效的燃料导致的需求下降等等。

    Britain‘s oil and natural gas

    英国的石油和天然气

    Natural gas was discovered in 1965 and oil in 1970 under the North Sea. Today Britain is not only self-sufficient in oil but also has a surplus for export. The transport and domestic heating systems mostly 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年在北海发现天然气和石油。今天英国的石油不仅能自给自足，还有盈余供出口。交通和家庭供热系统主要依靠石油，因为大部分农业的高度机械化，食品供应也靠石油。

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

    如今英国钢铁工业的主要问题。

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

    英国钢铁工业衰退的原因如下：

    1. Local supplies of iron ore have become exhausted；

    当地贮备枯竭；

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

    他们生产焦炭的老式炉不能提取有价值的副产品，

    3. Blast furnaces， steelworks， and rolling mills are often separated from each other and thus cannot perform as well as more compact operation；

    高炉、钢铁厂和轧钢厂经常分开，导致不如更紧凑的企业出效益；

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

    许多钢铁厂倒闭，导致该地区的大批人失业。

    The main textile producing regions of Britain are the East Midlands， Yorkshire， Humberside， and Northern Ireland.

    New Industries

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

    英国主要纺织基地是现在的中东部，约克郡和汉伯塞德郡及北爱尔兰。

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

    英国纺织业的衰退原因如下：

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

    纺织品出口不能很好地与设法生产出更便宜商品的国外产家竞争。

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

    英国增加了从外国产家进口更廉价纺织品。

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

    薄弱及过时的管理决策导致许多问题。

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

    人造纤维代替品已取代了天然纤维。

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

    由于机械化，每个工人的生产量有了提高。