From the Daily Telegraph:
“Analysts at the respected Oxford Economics consultancy say that increasing incomes, free healthcare and longer holidays make the average Briton better-off than his or her US counterpart.
“They predict that gross domestic product (GDP) per head in the UK, an indicator of average incomes, will be £23,500 in 2008, compared with £23,250 in America, reflecting the strength of the pound against the dollar and the steady growth of the British economy.
“Adrian Cooper, managing director of Oxford Economics, said: "The past 15 years have seen a dramatic change in the UK's economic performance and its position in the world economy.
"No longer are we the 'sick man of Europe'. Indeed, our calculations suggest that UK living standards are now a match for those of the US.
"The UK has been catching up steadily with living standards in the US since 2001, so it is a well-established trend rather than simply the result of currency fluctuations."
As the Observer so aptly put it: “…at least we’ve got one up on the Yanks”.
5 comments:
I'm reading what your saying, but it still doesn't make sense. Surely this is not possible?
House prices are cheaper and the cost of living is cheaper because the level of tax is less and hence the amount of disposable income people have is more.
Am I being too generic in that I'm only thinking about the middle-class population and not the working-class which will ineveitably make up the majority of people? Perhaps the working-class in Britain are richer?
I would argue that the working class in Britain is certainly richer because they have access to 'free' healthcare, higher social security benefits (e.g. child benefit) and greater rights at work (health and safety, sick pay, holiday, etc).
As for the cost of living, the articles I quoted from do go on to point out that Americans still have greater purchasing power because their goods cost so much less than ours (be it petrol, be it clothes, be it food, be it electronics, etc, etc). I conveniently omitted this point from my original post as my aim was simply to 'get one over' on the Yanks. :-)
- The Radical
Hmmmmm, you openly admit that you've left things out of an article you quote for your own benefit. So although Brits maybe richer than Americans, you're admitting that they have a cheaper cost of living.
If you're picking and choosing quotes to suit you and out of context, how can we trust the blogs you write as being credible?
You state that this blog is to "break out from the narrow and stultifying parameters of debate imposed by our elected politicians and the mainstream media on the issues that dominate our lives," but aren't you guilty of the same thing by misrepresenting the facts - something you're so keen to base your opinions on??
Not impressive at all.
My dear 'anti radical', you're back! Woo-hoo! Sorry to break it to you but do you not see the difference between serious posts on this blog (about war and peace, racism and Islamophobia, etc) and lighter, less serious blogs (e.g. on Christmas or this one on Brits being richer than Yanks)? I didn't realise that you had sense of humour bypass.
And I wasn't intending to deceive or misrepresent in my original posting but instead I was simply winding up my many US relatives and friends who visit this blog. In fact, I linked to the article knowing full well the point about their greater purchasing power would be exposed and when people like you failed to read my links, I then chose to freely admit it myself (above).
As for my credibility, it is yours that is at stake - you have yet to mention which no-go areas you're scared of entering? You have already apologized for, and withdrawn, your comment about me being an 'Islamic radical'. If you want a serious discussion on a serious issue, please start one but don't waste time trying to point-score by 'exposing' or 'criticiquing' my lighter and more random postings.
Thanks,
The Radical
P.S. And if you have any specific instances of my blogs not being credible or factual, please mention them now. I dare you....
Hahahaha... stupid 'Anti-Radical'
I'm ANTI 'Anti Radical'!!! :D
Keep it up Radical!
Post a Comment