Brits STUNNED To Learn How Much Poorer They Are Than Americans

British Guy reacts ^ | May 1, 2026

[MinorityRepublican]

According to the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) the United Kingdom is now poorer per capita than all 50 American states, having recently been overtaken by Mississippi.

However a survey of 3,000 British voters by the IEA found Brits on average wrongly thought the UK would be the seventh richest state if it was part of the American Union, not the 51st as it actually is.

Brits in London were surprised when I told them how poor the UK is versus the US, and had differing theories as to why. Enjoy!

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TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Humor; Society
KEYWORDS:

[joshua c]

collectivism will do that

[frank ballenger]

Bright side: They still have easy access to Jammy Dodgers and McVitie Digestives.

[srmanuel]

A similar thing happened a few weeks ago on twitter when it was reported that Canadians were poorer per capita than citizens of Alabama, it freaked them out.

In another year or so, the people of Canada will join the citizens of the UK as poorer than every state in America.

[ClearCase_guy]

It’s the Soviet Union all over again.

I think a lot of Soviet citizens up until the 70s thought they had rough parity with the US. Soviet supermarkets were empty — but they were empty in the US too, right? Soviet cars were bad — but they were bad in the US too, right?

Television and especially coverage of the Olympics let the people in the USSR know how poor they really were. The government didn’t last a lot longer after that.

[ansel12]

That girl at the end thinks we have a terrible Prime Minister.

[MinorityRepublican]

Due to propaganda, they do think they’re still pretty rich in the UK.

[DAC21]

Labour did a good job of implementing “Stockholm syndrome” on their low IQ populace. Hopefully this last election shows some are coming out of their stupor.

[Steely Tom]

Bright side: They still have easy access to Jammy Dodgers and McVitie Digestives.

And Bovril. Don't forget Bovril.

[j.havenfarm]

And spotted dick! As long as they have spotted dick, there’ll always be an England

[MinorityRepublican]

Labour did a good job of implementing “Stockholm syndrome” on their low IQ populace.

Same thing with the Democratic Party here in USA.

[TheDon]

“Brits STUNNED To Learn How Much Poorer They Are Than Americans”

Importing a large number of welfare recipients will do that to your country.

[frank ballenger]

Mentioned as a favorite of his in interviews with Eric Clapton.

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

I think a lot of Soviet citizens up until the 70s thought they had rough parity with the US. Soviet supermarkets were empty — but they were empty in the US too, right? Soviet cars were bad — but they were bad in the US too, right?

I will never forget when the first East Germans walked into West Germany. The Wall was still there, but several gates had been opened into the West. There was a video of an older East German walking into a regular Western supermarket. He began crying.

Just like every other Communist, Socialist, Democratic Republic, People's Republic, the British Apparatchiks will, no doubt, have everything they desire. The rest, not so much.

[marktwain]

I watched the video, and I liked the demeanor of the interviewer.

It is hard to measure “quality of life”.

Clearly, the USA is doing much better at producing wealth.

[Steely Tom]

And spotted dick! As long as they have spotted dick, there’ll always be an England

Hear hear! Long live spotted dick!

[Brian Griffin]

WIKI

Jammie Dodgers are a popular British biscuit, made from shortcake with a raspberry or strawberry flavoured jam filling.

Invented 1960

Main ingredients
Wheat flour, raspberries or strawberries, apples, sugar, (usually sodium bicarbonate, tartaric acid and malic acid), salt

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jammie_Dodgers

[AppyPappy]

Dallas and like shows became popular in the USSR but the question was always “Why would the American government be taunting its citizens with this excessive opulence?”. Then it suddenly hit them.

[Brian Griffin]

WIKI

First manufactured by McVitie’s in 1892 to a secret recipe developed by Sir Alexander Grant, their digestive is the best-selling biscuit in the United Kingdom. In 2009, the digestive was ranked the fourth most popular biscuit for “dunking” into tea among the British public, with the chocolate digestive (produced by McVitie’s since 1925) coming in at number one. The chocolate variant from McVitie’s is routinely ranked the UK’s favourite snack.

The typical digestive biscuit contains coarse brown wheat flour (which gives it its distinctive texture and flavour, similar to Graham flour), sugar, malt extract, vegetable oil, wholemeal, raising agents (usually sodium bicarbonate, tartaric acid and malic acid), and salt. Some varieties also contain dried whey, oatmeal, cultured skimmed milk, and emulsifiers such as DATEM.

Digestive biscuits are frequently eaten with tea or coffee. Sometimes, the biscuit is dunked into the tea and eaten quickly due to the biscuit’s tendency to break or disintegrate when wet. Digestive biscuits are one of the top 10 biscuits in the UK for dunking in tea. The digestive biscuit is also used as a cracker with cheeses, and is often included in “cracker selection” packets in supermarkets and cheese boards in restaurants.

In the UK, McVitie’s digestive is the best selling biscuit, with 80 million packs sold annually, though there are many other popular brands (such as Cadbury) as well as supermarkets’ own versions

Outside of the United States, such as in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, digestive biscuits are made using natural white sugar instead of sweeter high fructose corn syrup. Because of this, the sugar content of some digestive cookies may be higher than that of ordinary cookies.

Digestive biscuits with a chocolate coating on the lower side are also available, using dark, milk or more rarely white chocolate. The chocolate digestive was originally produced by McVitie’s in 1925 as the Chocolate Homewheat Digestive. Other varieties include the basic biscuit with chocolate shavings throughout (chocolate “chips” in the biscuit mix) or a layer of caramel, mint chocolate, orange-flavoured chocolate, or plain chocolate. They are manufactured at McVitie’s Harlesden factory in London. American travel writer Bill Bryson described the chocolate digestive as “a British masterpiece”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digestive_biscuit

[Cowgirl of Justice]

One of my professors in Italy told me what she made and actually asked me what my husband, a pilot, made salary wise. She was shocked to hear that he made more in one month than she made in a year.