Britain, a nation without moral integrity
June 16, 2022 · By The Economist
Britain, a nation without moral integrity.
From The Economist
June 2022
Whereas average annual GDP growth over the decade preceding the global financial crisis of 2007-09 was 2.7%, the new normal is now closer to just 1.7%. In 2022 GDP per person will be more than 25% lower than America’s, measured at purchasing-power parity. Britain has been declining against America and Germany since the mid-2000s. Had Britain’s productivity growth rate not fallen after the financial crisis, GDP per person in 2019 would have been £6,700 ($8,380) higher than it is.
The idea that Britain has a problem is not new, but when it comes to growth, Britain’s politicians will the ends but not the means. Britain suffers from complacency, born of centuries as a first-rank economy, and Johnsonian bluster only exacerbates it. Over the coming months we will look at what has gone wrong and how to fix it. If Britain is to avoid a bleak future it must grasp reform. That will require a once-in-a-generation show of political courage, persuasion and policy ingenuity.
