Note: these are essays written by me and have not been marked, so may contain mistakes. Please use for revision purposes only :)
“The period 1951-1964 represented a Golden Age for the British economy.” To what extent do you agree with this? (45 marks)
The “Golden Age”
described a period of prosperity among the British people. People had “never
had it so good” according to the Conservative Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan.
However, the existence of this golden age has been much debated by historians
who have matched the rise in inflation to the slow progression of Britain’s
economy as well as the Conservative party’s economic strategies.
The period 1951
to 1964 did experience a golden age, ultimately because of the growth of the
economy. Between 1951 and 1973, the British economy grew at a rate of 2.8 per
cent per annum in terms of GDP. This meant that the rate of economic growth was
consistently higher than it had been from 1900-1930s and only continued to
increase year by year. Although some historians such as Barnett would argue that
Britain was falling into relative decline, comparisons with other countries can
be misleading. For example, Germany and Japan had no choice but to completely
rebuild their economy and infrastructure after WWII, therefore they were unable
to spend on military defence (where Britain spent 7 per cent of GDP). This
allowed Germany and Japan’s economy to grow ahead of Britain. Regardless, there
was undeniably a growth in British economy so there was a golden age.
Furthermore,
this links to the fact that there was an increase in consumer goods. As real
wages increased on average from about £8.30 in 1951 to £18.35 in 1964, people
could afford to buy goods such as TVs, washing machines and refrigerators, all
of which saw a boom in sales in the years after 1951. This clearly shows that
there was a golden age as people had enough money to buy these goods that were
otherwise out of their reach financially. Not only had that, but unemployment
between this period had also been low which resulted in the growth of the
economy and a time named as a golden age.
Additionally,
living standards had increased. More houses were being built, mainly down to
Harold Macmillan who built over three hundred thousand houses per year. People
were happy between these years, going on holiday abroad more often and overall
genuinely enjoying the life of prosperity that they never had before. This is
evidence that there was a golden age for the British economy.
Peter Hennessy,
a historian, claimed that there was a golden age. He argued that progress was
made during these years in both the economy and society as unemployment was low
and the British economy was booming. Although he acknowledged that there was a
decline in the economy in later years, he still argued that there was a golden
age nonetheless.
By the end of
the golden age, people began to call it “thirteen wasted years.” There were
various reasons for this. People firstly began to realise that in the long
term, the economy had in fact been declining. This was mainly down to Britain’s
failure in controlling spending and its rapidly deteriorating industry.
The Conservative
party’s economic strategy consisted of “stop-go” economics. At the “go” phase,
domestic economy grew which reduced unemployment but increased spending and
therefore inflation. This is where the “stop” phase would come into place as
taxes rose, unemployment increased and economic growth would slow down. The
effects of “stop-go” economics only resulted in an unstable climate and the
devaluation of the pound, especially when the Conservatives attempted to
increase their own popularity by introducing tax cuts at a time when inflation
was rising, so the golden age may not have existed at all.
Likewise, due to
the “stop-go” economics, industry had a difficult time planning investments as
they were constantly unsure whether their products were in demand. This began
to take its toll as the lack of investment meant Britain was failing to
modernise their equipment. This led to Britain’s goods becoming overpriced
compared to countries such as Germany and Japan whose machinery was superior to
Britain’s, causing the reduction of the amount of exports and making relative
decline inevitable.
Not only that,
but Britain’s shipbuilding industry declined which had once been the largest. Eventually
Britain’s car factories even began to fall behind that of Europe, thus the
golden age may not have been so golden after all as Britain’s economy had
started to make a steep fall from 1951 to 1964, subsequently “thirteen wasted
years” may have been more accurate to describe this period.
It was not
merely because of the British economic state that caused people to rethink the
existence of the golden age, but also British culture. Technical and scientific
education was neglected as public schools taught children to be “gentlemanly”
instead of entrepreneurs. As a result, there was a negative attitude towards
work in the general public and poor management in factories, adding to the
already declining industry in Britain and so the years 1951 to 1964 did not
experience a golden age in the eyes of economists and some historians.
Finally, there
may not have been a golden age because Britain was spending so much on defence.
As mentioned before, 7 per cent of Britain’s GPD was regularly being spent on
the military which was more than any other country apart from the US. Also,
heavy spending abroad on Britain’s part led to cutbacks in domestic investment which
prevented Britain’s economy to grow as fast as other countries in Europe
consequently the golden age may have been non-existent.
Historians who
agree with this view, that the period 1951-1962 was thirteen wasted years, were
people such as Correlli Barnett. He argued that the relative decline in those
years meant that there was not a golden
age as the British economy was behind countries that had bigger financial
problems than Britain but still managed to catch up to Britain and surpass it.
His evidence of thirteen wasted years also included the fact that inflation and
unemployment was rising and world trade was declining.
In conclusion, I
agree with Hennessy’s argument that a Britain did experience a golden age.
Although in the long term unemployment and inflation was rising, it still
didn’t change the fact that there was ultimately a growth in the British
economy, regardless of how much. Also inflation did not rise above five per
cent which was still a low figure and unemployment was low relative to today’s
figures. People were happy and prosperous between the early 1950s and 1960s.
They were buying more, wages were increasing and living standards had greatly
improved compared to earlier years. This therefore proves that in those years
in particular, there was a golden age for the British economy.
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