Made in Britain

How the Nation Earns Its living

By: Evan Davis

Narrated by: Evan Davis

Looking at how Britain pays its way in the world today. Like Andrew Marr’s History of Modern Britain or Michael Palin’s Himalaya, the book will have a coherence and life beyond the television series, mirroring its basic structure, but looking at some issues in greater depth, and telling additional stories to illustrate some of the ideas. This book is about the things that Britain produces in order to pay its way in the world, from physical goods that we can see and feel, to intangible services that are much harder to quantify.

We don’t have to be prejudiced in favour of certain types of value: we shouldn’t assume finance is modern and manufacturing out of date, for example. What matters is what sells and for how much. From manufacturing to technology, design and the services industries, this book will provide a cutting edge analysis - via entertaining stories - about what we make and why it matters.

©2011 Evan Davis (P)2011 Hachette Digital

Consuming 'Made in Britain'

Are you fascinated by how people manage to earn a living? Does an economy built on services, where none of us seems to do much of anything besides go to meetings and e-mail each other, completely confuse you? How is it that we manage to buy houses and cars and computers if we don't really make anything?

For answers to these questions, and more, the best place to visit is Britain. Why? Because England has gone further down the road of creating a services based economy than the U.S., Germany, Japan or other wealth countries. The birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, the workshop of the world, is the poster child of the service economy of tomorrow.

I really liked Made in Britain. I'm hoping that Evan Davis franchises the book. A "Made in France" and a "Made in South Korea" and a "Made in the USA". The book grew out of Davis' BBC production of the same name. You can find the episode online, but apparently the BBC does not let North American's view their online video. (Can anyone help?)

The British economy is strong in areas of finance, pharmaceuticals, marketing / design, defense and higher education. Problems exist, such as persistent underinvestment in research and development, too little savings, and too much borrowing. Housing continues to absorb too many investment dollars. The finance sector is probably too large. The U.S. can learn much from Britain's economic strengths and weaknesses, and Made in Britain is a great place to start.