The rule of Margaret Thatcher (1979-1997):

establishing a free market economy , privatization.

Severe recession: the summer of 1990 the end of 1992.

The rule of Tony Blair (1997-2007): economists growth.

2008 – the UK entered a recession brought about by the global financial crises.

The Bank of England, which serves as Britain’s central bank has 3 main roles:

1. to maintain the stability and value of the currently;

2. to maintain the stability at the Blanca system;

3. to ensure the effectiveness of the financial services sector.

London is one of the biggest financial center of world.

The are located of the banks and Stock Exchange.

London Stock Exchange is 3 after Ney-York and Tokyo.

1986 – the was important financial reforms “big bang” and it all owed any foreign institutional to participate in the London money market. The result London has own money.

17.04.12

Trade unions (профсоюз)

Workers had first been allowed to from unions in 1924.

1945-1979: trade unions movement was a central actor in the British economy.

World War 2 – unions played a central role a state planning. Union’s power grew after 1945, with the members increasing.

1960-1970s – unions became so powerful that no government could operate without consulting them.

1979 – the Conservative government saw the unions as the economy of the market – economy and red med their power by low.

1985 – unions merged.

1990s – the nature of union’s membership changed: the proportion of white – collar and female member and members who were shareowners increased.

By 1996 strike action had reached the lowest level since 1891 when records began.

Industries

Agriculture

Produces about 60% of the UK’s food needs.

Contributes less than 21% to the GDD.

Engages less than 2% of the labour force.

Two-thirds of the production is devoted to rives … , one-third – to arable crops.

Manufacture

Accounts for about 23% of the national economy.

Employs about 14% of workforce.

They strengths lie in the aerospace, high technology, pharmaceutical industries and car production.

Mining

Britain has large deposits of coal, mined for more than 300 years.

South Wales, central Scotland, the north of England (the Midlands, Merseyside, Manchester, West Yorkshire and Newcastle) and London were important industrial centers.

Mineral resources: zinc, tin, iron ore and copper, sand and grave, limestone and gypsum.

Services

Services part: celery banking, insurance and business services, account for the largest proportion of GDP (76%) and employ 80,4% of workforce.

The service sector covers the whole state and retail trades, hotels and restaurants, transport and …

Industrial regions

The Northeast

Northumberland – electrical machinery and pottery: the rives Eden, Derwent, Tyne and Tweed-fishing; the fielder forests – a major timber produce.

The Northwest

Manchester – clothing, banking and manufacturing;

Cambria – steel, nuclear power production, diary products.

Yorkshire and the Humber West and South Yorkshire – engineering and textiles.

Shuffled – silk, …

East Midland

The river Trent – heavy industrial and power stations;

Northampton – leather working center, freezing, camping and jam-… .

West Midlands

Bingham – the “city of the trades”

Coventry – bicycle, car and aircraft industry.

East of England

Fishing

Essex – ship building

East Anglia – cereals, sugar feet, fruit and vegetables, …

The Southwest of England

Bristol – cheddar cheese

Corn cell – tin mines

Devon and Cornmeal – stone and … , engineering, ship building, electoral and food processing

Swindon – computers

Scotland – electrical engineer instrument, whisky.

Wales – production of steel, mining and quarrying, electricity, gas and water supply, tourism 100,000 visitors a year gem rate income of 1,9 billion pounds, agriculture.

Northern Ireland – computers software, telecommunications, electronics and network services.

Lecture 7

UK society: religion, ethnicity, and social class

1. Religion in the UK

2. Ethnic composition of the UK

3. Social classes in the UK

Christianity

The Church of England, the Church of Wales, the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, the Roman Catholics and the Methodists.

The Queen (the British Monarch) is the Supreme government of the Church of England.

Religious of Great Britain (2011)

Christian – 68,5%

Muslim – 4,4%

Hindu – 1,3%

Sikh – 0,7%

Buddhist – 0,4%

Jewish – 0,4%

Any other religion – 1,1%

No religion at all – 23,2%