Liverpool and Britain dependent on other countries Essay

Liverpool and Britain dependent on other countries - Essay Example Although the exact moment of globalization occurring in Liverpool is a highly debatable question considering the length of Britain’s history and its extensive involvement in world affairs, it could be send that the election of â€Å"New Labour† in 1997 marked the rapid acceleration of the period. With Tony Blair’s successful efforts to remake the formerly left-wing, anti-free trade Labour party into a pro-market moderate party, Britain decided to go full steam ahead with economic global integration. Britain got its economic act together just as globalization was accelerating, in the late 1980s. It has managed to catch and ride the current wave successfully, selling the world financial and business services where once it sold cotton textiles and machines. Shifting earlier and more decisively than most countries out of mass manufacturing, where it had few advantages over lower-cost competitors, to more easily defended high-value-added goods and services gave it an edge. Margaret Thatcher's painful union-bashing left Britain with flexible labour markets at a time when countries such as France and Germany are struggling with unbudgetable workers and high unemployment. Britain has always been a trading nation. Liverpool has been a central part of that history. Founded by King John in the 12 century, the city has been an important port for a very long time. In the 19th century it became, along with Manchester, the first two British cities connected by railway, allowing the quick transport of goods to market.