There is a central myth about British science and economic growth, and it goes like this science breeds wealth, Britain is in economic decline, therefore Britain has not done enough science. Actually, it is easy to show that a key cause of Britain's economic decline has been that the government has funded too much science... Post-war British science policy illustrates the folly of wasting money on research. The government decided, as it surveyed the ruins of war-torn Europe in 1945, that the future lay in computers, nuclear power and jet aircraft, so successive administrations poured money into these projects--to vast technical success. The world's first commercial mainframe computer was British, sold by Ferrranti in 1951 the world's first commercial jet aircraft was British, the Comet, in service in 1952 the first nuclear power station was British, Calder Hall, commissioned in 1956 and the world's first and only supersonic commercial jet aircraft was Anglo-French, Concorde, in service in 1976. Yet these technical advances crippled us economically, because they were so uncommercial. The nuclear generation of electricity, for example, had lost 2.1 billion pounds by 1975 (2.1 billion pounds was a lot then) Concord had lost us, alone, 2.3 billion pounds by 1976 the Comet crashed and America now dominates computers. Had these vast sums of money not been wasted on research, we would now be a significantly richer country.
Quotes about post-war (16 Quotes)
The generation which lived through the Second World War is disappearing. Post-war generations see Europe's great achievements - liberty, peace and prosperity - as a given.
I have been struck that so many of the intellectual, neo-conservative supporters of the war have been quite critical of the Bush administration's management, or mismanagement, of the post-war situation in Iraq, both politically and militarily.
I was very lucky, I was part of the post-war period when everything had to be redone.
We're in a situation where the economy is the most highly leveraged in the post-War period. If the Fed had to raise interest rates, that could bring the whole system down. And it's not clear that holding rates where they are or lowering them will save us from another recession.
In the whole post-war rebound story, the first part has come through -- we've clearly seen a bounce in consumer confidence. The next key step is business activity measures improving, including employment indicators. Hopefully we will see weekly jobless claims coming down soon -- in the next three-to-four weeks.
It should also explode the illusions of post-war progress and stability the Bush administration continues to cling to,
Despite world unrest, the frontiers of the future lie invitingly before us. They stretch to fabulous horizons of scientific and technological discoveryall holding promise of contribution to the national welfare. But these frontiers of tomorrow call for bold enterprisefor optimism, for the united effort of industry, labor, agriculture and government. In the mounting miracles of science, in the rapid advances of technology, lie the foundations for almost countless new industries and for far swifter social progress. This promise of progress is daily taking more definite shape and clearer form, as it shakes free of the post-war mists.
Koizumi's ability to carry off what must be seen as one of the greatest gambles in post-war electoral politics earns him a place in history as one of Japan's most masterful political strategists.
If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged.
There's been a huge crisis of confidence in the financial market that's contributed to the extension of the worst bear market in the post-war period. We're on the flip side of where we were three years ago, where all good news was priced into everything and the sky was considered to be sunny forever. Now we're pricing the bad news into everything.
The United States basically accepted protection abroad as the price of post-war recovery. Now, that these countries have caught up to our level of prosperity, it is time for them to catch up to our level of openness.
The blood and sweat shed by United States and United Nations troops proved to be the prime mover behind the realisation of freedom throughout the post-war period.
I firmly believe that as voters come to learn more and more about John Kerry and learn more and more about his message that they're going to want a President who is willing to address the fact that we didn't have a post-war plan in Iraq.
Skeptics will argue this is just a post-war bounce that won't last, but we disagree, ... The ISM was in the mid-50s before the war, thanks to very loose policy, and there's no reason why it can't return to those levels very soon. The Fed does not need to
There was reason to celebrate. That war had involved so many in this country. (With the surrender), it was now at an end. It marked a period of tremendous post-war prosperity.