Posted on 01/10/2008 7:01:22 AM PST by fweingart
For the first time in more than a century the standard of living in Britain is higher than in America, according to a new report.
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.
The GDP per head in the UK is expected to exceed that of the USA in 2008 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."
advertisementBack in the early 1990s Britain's GDP per capita was 34 per cent below that in America, 33 per cent less than in Germany and 26 per cent lower than in France.
Now, average incomes are not only above those in America but they are more than 8 per cent higher than in France where it is £21,700 and Germany, with a predicted £21,665.
The British financial services boom and soaring house prices have led to an uninterrupted expansion, credited with boosting the UK's strength. And in contrast America and many European countries slid into recession in the early part of this decade.
However the average British person may not feel richer than their US cousins as goods and services there are often vastly cheaper. So, despite earning less, the average American can buy more.
The report authors also warn that a significant fall in the pound against other currencies could push Britain back down the ladder.
Citigroup, the most accurate forecaster of Britain's economy last year, predicts the slowest rise in consumer spending this year since 1992.
Michael Saunders, Citigroup's UK economist, said: "After the credit-fuelled boom in domestic demand and asset prices, the UK economy now faces a hangover, with slowing credit growth, falling property prices and tightening lending standards."
Hey big shot! Why the insults?
I, too, read IBD and here I merely post an article from the Telegraph.
Go insult someone else who shares your level of intelligence.
Being incapable of understanding sarcasm is not a gift.
vaudine
... and only a few hundred people got killed in buses and the underground as opposed to the thousands killed in the twin towers and the Pentagon.
vaudine
Really. By that logic, I could come up with criteria showing that Cuba has a higher standard of living than the U.S.
Hard to say. Under normal American dental care (for an adult), all efforts are made to save the tooth. Removing the adult tooth is an action of "last resort".
Did your $120 dollars include replacement with an artificial tooth or partial denture?
been there, don’t thinks so.
UNLESS the standard is to maximize dependence on government, totalitarian political correctness, and a lack of individual rights (ie draconian gun control laws)
(s) but but if a news paper reporter has it in paper print, it must be true!!!(/s)
Free healthcare huh? So Doctors work for free, hospitals are built for free, and medicine is free? That’s really amazing!!!!!!!!!!! (/sarcasm)
Who are you to point out the inconsistencies?
The US has more people immigrate here than any other place; that should tell you a lot about the standard of living here.
You only think that you’re taxed through your nose.
It’s about double the cost of the U.S. So, if a #3 meal is $6 here, it is around $12 there. Of course, London, like NYC, is very expensive due in part to the fact that it is a major city.
So Cal is some of the highest real estate around.
Not with a declining dollar, we can't
Puts me in mind of a quote from a famous Brit...
There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
Benjamin Disraeli
What’s the location?
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