The other point about us giving up on our antiquated and increasingly inefficient (through a mixture of unworkable labour relations (eg crap management and communist unions) and impracticality - docks in relatively shallow river basins not being suitable for comntainer shipping...which cost 60,000+ dockers jobs in London btw chippy northeners; was that it allowed (and is allowing) 3rd world countries to develop as, say, coal is cheaper to get from open cast mines in Indonesia than 2 miles under the Pennines. This has led to a gradual sharing of global wealth...globalisation works. China and India, although still rife with poverty, have massively expanding economies and millions of people in burgeoning middle classes...ironoic for the lefties that it's market, global capitalism that's doing this not patronising hand outs or the 'central ownership of the means of production' that made China and India such basket cases 20 years ago. Tough for lefties liberal and the media to admit but even they are beginning to understand....(except the gormless Mark Steel obviously)