Monday, January 07, 2008

Average Brit has more income now than the average American

This would have to come from the BBC, because the American news media does not tell Americans they are no longer "number one."
The average UK person will this year have a greater income than their US counterpart for the first time since the 19th Century, figures suggest.
Here's the details:
Analyst Oxford Economics said the UK's GDP per head of population will reach £23,500 - £250 higher than in the US.

However, because goods and services are cheaper in the US, Americans will have stronger purchasing power, it added.

UK GDP per capita will also be higher than in Germany (£21,665) and France (£21,700), Oxford Economics calculated.

Managing director Adrian Cooper said: "The last 15 years have seen a dramatic change in the UK's economic performance and its position in the world economy. [Snip]

Oxford Economics said that in 1993, following the last major recession and the UK's ejection from the ERM, GDP per capita in the UK was 34% lower than in the US, 33% lower than in Germany and 26% lower than in France.

It said the improved UK position reflected the sustained strong growth it has enjoyed since then and the recent strength of sterling.

Mr Cooper said: "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."
Remember when Reaganomics were going to make all Americans rich? Guess what? The Labor Party in the UK has been in control since 1997, and the 1997 defeat of the conservatives resulted largely from the disasters that Thatcherism caused, leading to sharply increased unemployment and the eviction of a million householders from their homes.

The UK has demonstrated that a modern government run by the Labor Party is more effective than one run on Monarchical principles by corporate leaders. We've seen in America that a government run by corporate leaders is a disaster. The Progressives and union leaders can't possibly be as bad and the Republicans and their fellow-traveler corporatist Democrats.

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