Question: In the light of the change that have occurred in the structure of the UK economy in the recent years, discuss better is it still correct to describe UK economy as a mixed economy.
Generally, the British economy is also known as the Anglo-Saxon economy and is the second largest economy in Europe after Germany. It is also the fifth largest economy in the world in terms of market exchange rates. In the early history, the country’s most dominated sector is the agriculture sector in which the most important and major export is of cassiterite which is known as ‘tin’ in Anglo Saxon which gave the country its’ name. UK is also one of the most significant producers of textiles and chemical products. Back in the medieval times (11th century – 15th century), the wool trade was a major industry and was being exported to Europe. From then on, towns and ports grew up and in addition canals and railways began to be built. Another important industrial are automotives, locomotives and aircraft. The UK economy experienced a massive transformation in the 1980’s when the country was under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher where state owned enterprise in the industrial and service sector which since 1940’s had been nationalized were privatized. The British government now only owns very few industries and businesses such as ‘The Royal Mail’. As the country expands, UK underwent a vast passage through civilization and modernization, thus due to that in the 1990’s, UK’s financial sector came into the big screen and played a big role in contributing the country’s outcome revenue. The largest sector in UK is the service sector with the manufacturing and primary sector in decline although the sector is still important for overseas trade, accounting for 83% of UK’s exports. The economy in the recent years has seen the largest period of sustained economic growth for more than 150 years and it is also one of the strongest European Union