British Shipbuilding and the State since 1918: A Political Economy of Decline

Few industries attest to the decline of Britain's political and economic power as does the near disappearance of British shipbuilding. On the eve of the First World War, British shipbuilding produced more than the rest of the world put together. But by the 1980s, the industry which had dominated world markets and underpinned British maritime power accounted for less than one per cent of world output. Throughout this decline, a remarkable relationship developed between the shipbuilding indus...