British economy

1945 to 1979

From 1971 to 1973 a floating exchange rate regime de facto replaced the post-war Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates for many global currencies, including sterling. The relatively stable US-controlled system that had been agreed upon in 1944 was no longer considered advantageous to the United States. During the 1973 oil crisis, which saw oil prices quadruple, the 1973–1974 stock market crash, and the secondary banking crisis of 1973–1975, the British economy fell into the 1973–1975 recession, and the Conservative government was ousted by the Labour Party, which had previously governed from 1964 to 1970. The UK recorded weaker growth than many other European nations in the 1970s: even after the recession, the economy was blighted by rising unemployment and double-digit inflation, which exceeded 20% more than once and rarely fell below 10% after 1973.