Re: USA probably at the root of it
While there is no doubt ruined states in Europe did better out of post war loans than we did, Polaris was not the terrible deal you make it out to be. Highly recommend picking up the Silent Deep by Peter Hennessy and James Jinks, which contains a rather lengthy section on the favourable terms of the Polaris deal. Trident is also bought under the same deal - and so will it's successor should it be allowed to happen.
Considering the mistakes that were made at the end of WWI, the Marshall Plan was intended to prevent a repeat of the 1930's collapse; which it did. Having a completely flattened country tends to make rebuilding on modern terms easier. British industry had been purposely distributed in WW2 to make it hard to bomb, but that's terrible for mass production purposes. There is also the not so minor point that British bulk manufactured goods throughout right up until the 1980's if not beyond were hardly desirable commodities; and in an "export" economy that's a problem. Can't imagine many Bedfords or Morris cars were exported to Germany - whereas we are awash with Opel, PSA and VAG hardware. Sure, the E-type and other sports cars are highly desirable; but the key word is bulk. We're crap at it in blighty!
Biting the hand that feeds IT
