Fall of British Empire

Factual Questions
21

The fall of the British empire surely had its roots in the reason for the existance of it, money in profits and especially in taxation.

The loss of the North American colony lay with taxation (or perhaps lack of democracy if you prefer)

The British empire was hugely over-extended with its wars around the world and it needed money.You pretty much know what happened next.

When it elected to hang on to the Indian subcontinent, where it resumed its taxation policy, using the local hierarchy as the collection system and leave North America, the change it started there in political thinking would spread around the world, and it’s the right to self-determination and democracy that sealed the fate of the British Empire.

Ok so many former colonies are not democratic, but the belief that the local population had its own right to govern itself is what led to the downfall o the Empire.

The idea of local democracy had either to be crushed, or it would inevitable destroy the British Empire, but since the North American colony was a step too far for British control, the result seems fairly inevitable to me.

22

My understanding is that the expenses colonial powers spent on their colonies have never been covered by tax revenues coming from them. Britain needed its colonies as military bases and trade posts, not as fresh supply of taxpayers. And of course there’s mere megalomania driving countries to establish colonies around the world, without any rational thinking behind it.
As for pre-Revolution America, see this Staff Report. From the financial point of view, North America was a loss to London.