Economic history · Britain

What the Pound Cost — 1945 to 1976

1945 to 1979, in six parts. The war debt, the NHS and what it cost, eighteen years defending one exchange rate, four crises and a devaluation, the three-day week, and the IMF.

6 modules · about 60 minutes

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The 6 modules

Modules are written to be read in order: each one opens on the question the last one closed with. Start wherever you like.

1 What the War Left 1945 to 1949. Britain won the war owing more than it had ever owed, borrowed from America to keep going, and found out within five weeks what the loan had actually cost. 8 steps · 12 min · Free 2 The Bill at Home — 1948 to 1951 1948 to 1951. Britain started the most expensive thing it had ever built, got the cost wrong, rearmed for Korea, and paid for it by charging sick people for spectacles. 6 steps · 9 min · Free 3 Defending the Number 1949 to 1964. One published price for the pound, eighteen years, and a government whose main economic job was defending it, including the year the reserves decided a war. 7 steps · 10 min · Free 4 Four Crises and a Devaluation 1964 to 1967. A new government, a deficit with two sizes, four runs on the pound, and half a billion pounds taken out of the economy to avoid changing one number. The number changed anyway. 6 steps · 9 min · Free 5 Three Days a Week 1972 to 1974. Britain stopped publishing a price for the pound, reached for control of pay instead, tied wages to prices by law two weeks before the oil price quadrupled, and ended the winter on three days of electricity. 6 steps · 9 min · Free 6 Inflation and the IMF 1975 to 1979. Prices rising at a quarter a year, or at four different rates depending which institution you ask, a pay limit set in pounds, the largest loan the IMF had ever made, and a decade in which people got about a third better off. 6 steps · 9 min · Free

Country data from the World Bank (CC BY 4.0) and the UNDP Human Development Report (CC BY 3.0 IGO)
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