Atis, because Britain was nearly bankrupt at the end of WW II. Things didn't start picking up until the 1950's.
You can see something similar, but shorter-lived, at the end of WW I. The worst shortages, highest taxes and lowest-gravity beer were after the end of hostilities.
I hate the so called sin taxes. A pox on all politicians who think it is easy to tax that which is pleasurable to some. A bankrupt country should be refinanced equally by it's population. Maybe next time we should have a holy water tax, communion tax or bible tax.
Britain was nearly bankrupt in 1940. If I remember correctly the country was just a couple of weeks from running out of cash. Without Lend-Lease we would have gone under. God bless FDR!
And I think we finally paid off the debt last year, didn't we? That's OK though--Gordon's found us a new one!
Thank you, I forgot that post-war period was quite difficult as well.
It was slightly different here, the Soviet Union raised the capital by nationalising everything :)). With regards to beer, it become way more accessible because of significantly smaller taxes (it is thought that Latvia had the highest beer tax in Europe during the 20s and 30s).
Why did it keep rising after the war? Just to see how far up it could go without impacting demand?
ReplyDeleteAtis, because Britain was nearly bankrupt at the end of WW II. Things didn't start picking up until the 1950's.
ReplyDeleteYou can see something similar, but shorter-lived, at the end of WW I. The worst shortages, highest taxes and lowest-gravity beer were after the end of hostilities.
I hate the so called sin taxes. A pox on all politicians who think it is easy to tax that which is pleasurable to some. A bankrupt country should be refinanced equally by it's population. Maybe next time we should have a holy water tax, communion tax or bible tax.
ReplyDelete"Britain was nearly bankrupt at the end of WW II"
ReplyDeleteBritain was nearly bankrupt in 1940. If I remember correctly the country was just a couple of weeks from running out of cash. Without Lend-Lease we would have gone under. God bless FDR!
And I think we finally paid off the debt last year, didn't we? That's OK though--Gordon's found us a new one!
Thank you, I forgot that post-war period was quite difficult as well.
ReplyDeleteIt was slightly different here, the Soviet Union raised the capital by nationalising everything :)). With regards to beer, it become way more accessible because of significantly smaller taxes (it is thought that Latvia had the highest beer tax in Europe during the 20s and 30s).
If I'm asked this on the Life in the UK Test...I'm ready!
ReplyDeleteSorry I missed you at Giant Beery London Day! Hopefully next year.