Thanks to Battlepanda’s blog for reporting this.
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. 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.
We have not been the “sick man of Europe” for some time, but it’s always nice to be reminded of the change that has swept across the country. We are still one of the premier European economies, and will remain that way even though growth will slow next year.
Cheers!
Raj
1
By boo
One worrying statistic is the ratio of household debt to personal income: 1.62 in the UK (1.42 in the US) so the credit crisis in the UK is even worse than in the US. Mortgage debt ratios are also higher in the UK.
January 13, 2008 @ 3:36 am | Comment
2
By Bing
How much of that average income will remain this year after a housing market crash?
January 13, 2008 @ 5:59 am | Comment
3
By Raj
How much of that average income will remain this year after a housing market crash?
It would depend on how severe a crash it was. But I doubt there will be one such that GDP per head will shrink noticeably. Overall growth will continue though slower than in 2007.
January 13, 2008 @ 7:24 am | Comment
4
By 2008
60 years after the “overpaid, oversexed and over here” American forces helped Winston Churchill defeat the Nazis, the UK finally repays the US government the last installment of the £1 billion loan (worth more than £50 billion today). May England never have to send there sons and daughters to fight another unjust oil war for the USA again.
January 13, 2008 @ 11:22 am | Comment
5
By shulan
And we will miss you in Austria and Swisserland this summer.
Cheers! ; )
January 13, 2008 @ 1:36 pm | Comment
6
By Si
There’s an artivle here with some very interesting comments which i feel express well the average brits’ attitude to this news. (some of the americans’ comments are hilarious)
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article3137506.ece
frankly, i fail to see why this is a reason to celebrate – it is about ppp and standard of living, not raw gdp, which is still well behind the us. i certainly don’t feel rich!
January 14, 2008 @ 4:23 pm | Comment