this channel brings the same story about France, Italy, Spain............ Great Britain is still strong, of course there are sectors where it can improve. But every country in Europe will have an effort to achieve great growth every year, not like India or other developing countries which have to build up his infrastructure, real estate and more!
@@michaelcoward1902 He's right you clown. Britain's elites are occupiers - A remnant left over from the Norman French or Norse. Because the Brits can not bear arms, they cannot overthrow them. You need firearms to overthrow an occupier.
London cannot ruin Britain. It achieved that decades, if not centuries ago. London has always behaved as if it is a separate state rather than the capital city, and the North-South divide has been an issue from before the Industrial Revolution. The government is full of platitudes about levelling up, but achieves little. Politicians generally see little benefit from levelling up. They may be, supposedly, the representatives of the whole country, but their every thought is influenced by the Londoncentric way that the country is run.
@@francishandscomb8108 the City of London is part of the UK, it's just a special administrative unit. It's the Crown Dependencies which aren't part of the UK.
London is the goose that lays the golden eggs, slaughtering it would be remarkably stupid. The problem is the UK regulated out of existence all the other regions of the country. Stopped coal mining which killed the country’s steel production and manufacturing. Introduce protections for unions and minimum wages further making it impossible to manufacture in the UK. It’s only going to get worse, London will continue to grow, and the North will live a life on benefit street.
"London always behaved as if it was a state" Well that makes sense... The Empire of Britannia is dejure just UK plus Ireland... Without any external Colonies. And Britain it's self was many separate kingdoms that created and empire. So yeah... The rest of the UK was just the imperial possession of London. (Small kingdoms being unified into England, then England as a United kingdom uniting with other kingdoms to make the actual UK... By the definition an empire is Kingdom of Kingdoms and the English one was certainly an empire before colonisation)
The UK didn't really learn from the financial crisis. They thought it was a temporary blip on the never ending gravy train of banking and financial services. Austerity destroyed any chance it had of reshaping the economy to be more diversified and solid. When it was apparent the world had moved on from deregulated banking as a bedrock of the economy it was left behind. Couple this with being a huge import economy with a weakening currency and actively voting to make importing more difficult and a government who still blindly believes everything is going fine and we are where we are.
The government blindly believe everything is fine, cause for people like them, it is... they're in fuckin clover, it's the rest of us that are supposed to a) suffer quietly and b) see our money become worthless...
What else should a Government say - everything is rubbish? If you are in opposition you will say that. A year after you are voted in as Government you will see everything positively. Not just the case in the UK though.
@@drmbachler2312 But what they're saying doesn't ring true to the people living here. People want to be told how things are going to improve not how good they already have it. Comparable countries have pulled away from us in recent years. I understand a governments prerogative is to talk up their achievements but I'm not sure even privately they've admitted that things in the UK aren't good and that it needs radical change.
As an American who moved here for his British wife, here's my perspective: As an IT professional with >20 years experience, the wages for those jobs are abysmal in the UK as compared to the US. Friends I have spoken to across the entire professional spectrum all say the same. The salaries offered elsewhere are more appealing for the same work. It is brain drain, pure and simple. Then you compound the decades of under-building and the housing shortage and you're just constantly fighting this unnecessary uphill battle. We're moving out of country in 2024.
100% correct. I think I'd comfortably get a $300k+ job in the US without much effort. Unless you're directly in finance, wages are about 1/2 to 1/3rd of the US.
Unfortunately, the video doesn't comment much on regional inequality at all, which I was expecting from the thumbnail, premise or introduction. Otherwise, it's a nice case study.
Yeah, I really don't see the connection between current structural issues and Black Wednesday. It had huge consequences for short-term economic policy and counter-inflationary policy, but confidence in the UK's economic policy had been shaky since the 1960s at best. Regional inequality has been ingrained in the UK economy for decades, and was only made worse by deindustrialisation and financialization in the 1960s to '90s. They've really not done a good job explaining things.
@@Wazzok1 Agreed. This has been a very sterile explanation of the current massive inequality inherent in the British state. It has looked at the symptoms but not the causes. As someone in the UK, this sort of video ironically will suit an agenda of maintaining status quo for the elderly middle-upper class, the elite and those who stand to inherit wealth.
not sure regional inequality is noteworthy as every decent sized country would have that. US, China, Russia, big regional inequality in all. It's almost to be expected.
@@xiphoid2011 "not sure regional inequality is noteworthy as every decent sized country" What they mean is "ohhhh itss soooo unfair how the North/Scotland is treated" It is not true. Essentially the UK has a very wealthy capital and almost everywhere else sucks. But the North/Scots whine endlessly as they want special treatment. I imagine this goes on in other countries in some way.
Sadly with each passing day we can see the impact this awful policy has had on the UK. Tied up in red tape and tariffs with lower GDP than before the pandemic whilst the others in the G7, including Italy, are above. The lower GDP means we do not have the headroom to pay our way in the world and must resort to borrowing.Whilst there are rich people in the UK; a great many of us are poor and now we are poorer still. What steps can we take to generate more income during quantitative adjustment?
It is critical for everyone to prioritise investing in a variety of income streams that are independent of the government in light of the ongoing global economic crisis. Investigating stock, gold, silver, and digital currency opportunities is part of this. Despite the difficult economic climate, now is still a good time to think about making these investments. Individuals can seek counsel from a certified financial advisor to optimize financial outcomes, who can provide specialized advice and methods to decrease expenses and maximize income.
I agree, that's the more reason I prefer my day to day investment decisions being guided by an advisor seeing that their entire skillset is built around going long and short at the same time both employing risk for its asymmetrical upside and laying off risk as a hedge against the inevitable downward turns, coupled with the exclusive information/analysis they have, it's near impossible to not out-perform, been using my advisor for over 2years+ and I've netted over 2.8million.
Colleen Janie Towe covers things like investing, insurance, making sure retirement is well funded, going over tax benefits, ways to have a volatility buffer for investment risk. many things like that. Just take a look at her full name on the internet. She is well known so it shouldn't be hard to find her.
France and Spain have both managed to create regional centres. Places you visit that feel significant and of importance; Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lyon or Bilbao, Santander, Seville. Good infrastructure investment and good regional politics with local decision making seems key.
This is the key for the UK. Significant regional devolution to major metropolitan areas and key regions. Too much is dictated and decided by London, holding everything up. It's a stranglehold, release that and Manchester, Birmingham etc will take off on their own initiative and steam.
Have you been to Seville? Most terrifying place I've driven so far, crumbling roads with no road markings and barely any signs. Worse than driving in the US or Middle East in some parts. I'll give a fair shout to the bus services. Probably about the same as Birmingham tbh.
For as long as I can remember the UK economy has been in serious trouble (I'm 59) I asked my 94-year-old dad if he remembered a time when the UK was not in crisis...he couldn't....
@@itsvmmc Because "Crisis" is just background noise. The UK is now and pretty much always has been a better place to live than the majority of countries in the world.
@@crab276yep, Sunak is a product of the British private school system same as the likes of Cameron, Johnson and all the rest! He may as well be David Cameron doing Blackface there’s so little difference between them! 😂
Governments need to realize focusing so much on financial services in pursuit of immediate gdp growth is short sighted. The British government should exist to serve the British people, not to serve gdp growth
@@HH-le1vi sure. My point is that a national economy should be balanced and diversified in order to benefit more people. GDP growth is only of value if it benefits citizens, and an economy that relies heavily on financial services at the expense of other industries doesn't benefit the nation's citizens. It benefits the investor class and their imported labor over citizens.
Much of the wealth in UK, especially London, lies in property. At some point, the penny will drop and people will realise that London is overvalued as a place to work and live and when that happens and property prices plummet, there will be a huge drop in national wealth across the board
And London is governed for the owners of the massive flows of the world’s blood-money throughout its offshore territories. As the video said: the one differentiator of the City of London is their capacity to unethically “look the other way.” That is all Britain has got today. Let that sink in…. Now does the motivation for Brexit become clear? They could not afford to submit this iniquity to EU scrutiny.
England is London. Everyone living in England actually lives in London - just depends on how far away you live from the centre of London. Most of the English population is within a two hour commute to central London. All of Englands regional areas are suburbs of London. Some regional areas are nice suburbs while others are backwater suburbs, etc. The closer you live to central London then the better your wealth will be. When you understand this - you understand England.
Productivity has been in decline in the UK since the mid-nineties. Its been overdependent on financial services for decades, whilst the rest of Europe had grown a deep culture of mid-sized businesses, manufacturing, managment and business process expertise. Faced with the question about productivity, outside of finance, no one in the UK really knows how to go about this and what it would take. It will be a long road to get there...
@@recoil53 this young people not wanting to work is a disingenuous Telegraph take. What about the fact that many pensioners have lived 30 years past the old life expectancy retired? Not contributing income tax? You see?I can level the same sort of Reductive statements at an entire demographic. Reductive analysis is all the rage in the UK. Made more poignant by the literati of right wing journalists.
It’s been in decline since the mass importation of the third world. You can’t import the numbers it has done and expect production levels to remain high.
Trying to get investment for a technology company in Scotland (or anywhere not London) goes like: "why not in London?", "Because the company is in Scotland and most of the demand and opportunity for wealth growth via the investment is in Scotland", "oh" (and in one particular case this was an Aussie investor too) And foreign investment in London typically means the assets and revenue will in the future not be via the UK (usually moves to the US), so it literally extracts wealth from the whole UK on average.
Living in other parts of the UK, then moving to London was eye-opening. Whilst rent is higher in London, your wages even in entry level work is so much higher. That means buying houses in London is ridiculously expensive whilst other parts are cheaper ... so Londoners can just buy property that the people that actually live there cannot. Cornwall is on average quite well off, but travel to some of the towns and cities, especially Portleven in autumn, and it's dead. All the young people leave because there's no chance to earn enough to sustain themselves and so all you're left with is the old, the rich and the holidaymakers. It's unsustainable.
Cornwall is the perfect depiction of what plagues the UK: Low local wealth creation While the local existing wealth is snatched up by people with way higher incomes living somewhere else
Rent, bills and housing in general is DRAMATICALLY higher in London then midlands and north. Your salary is only a bit higher. Put it in percentages and you'll see. Therefore the average Londoner, I'm talking about to ordinary guy is much poorer than the someone in another city/town. Check how much a house costs in midlands vs in London (or rent). Then compare salary. You said "Londoners can just buy property that the people that actually live there cannot" even though there's some true to it, nobody(unless investor) wants to buy a property elsewhere of where they live. If a Londoner can BARELY buy a property up North, but not in London is the same as when a foreign millionaire can buy property in London where a Londoner cannot :)
Main places Londerners are destroying is, Bristol, Bath, Brighton etc. WFH Londoners moving there have seen the rents absolutely skyrocket to unbelievable levels since Covid while local wages stay the same, meaning it's near impossible to live on a single income in those areas now. God forbid Londoners find out about Leeds, Nottingham and Sheffield, will be the last straw for me and I will leave haha
@@pfftnuffinpersonalkid1541it’s not just WFH Londoners moving to these places. There’s a surprising amount of people commuting into central London from places like Reading, Swindon, Chippenham, Bath even Bristol! Anyplace in the West Country along the train line into London basically! In Chippenham there’s an abnormal amount of one bed flats/studio flats now be they larger houses that have been split up or purpose built places! All advertised highlighting their accessibility and proximity to the train station and therefore the trains into London Paddington!
@@pfftnuffinpersonalkid1541 they already have found out about Sheffield. seems a lot of southerners come up here, fall in love with the place and never leave.
Currency flows are also a huge issue. Wealthy citizens can and do just leave and take their money elsewhere. Meanwhile, poor citizens are stuck with the sinking ship. Taxes can't be raised on the engine of the economy because the rich can move their cash out of the UK if they do, so instead citizens are the only people who can be reliablely taxed.
There us some truth to that but the flipside is that there is a lot of foreign money in London that is only there because its not getting taxed in the first place.
@@liestricks true. What is clear is foreign money is causing a huge distortion to how London operates. If taxes were to scare it away, you would see London return to a more normal British city.... And also see the UK economy collapse as the foreign money holding it up leaves....
What if the rich people don't want to move out of the UK though? I can't imagine them complaining about not being able to afford to live here and just moving to another country because takes are cheaper.
This was not really as insightful as I expected as someone who actually works in financial services in London. Agree with the comments that say this should talk more about the other regions in the UK
HS2 being cancelled really opened my eyes. Not cause it was cancelled that was obviously going to happen, but becuase the things they promsied thd money to go into they've being promisng for around 50years.
Can confirm as a UK individual not living in London there is just less opportunity in my neck of the woods, what opportunity that is here is paid up to 50% of the equivalent job in London. Feels like you`re limited because you`re family is not in the capital.
Buying an inhabitable house starts at half a mil - and that’s to live somewhere with a considerable commute. That commute costs a few grand a year, if it’s trains you’re taking. Wasting all the wonderful time in your life on a commute no less. The adjusted salaries outside London really do account for cost of living. Not to be too defensive of London - I live in the north - but I think I want to share how I see things in case it’s helpful. It’s definitely true that economic prospects outside of a limited number of places in the UK are grim, but it’s not ‘London or nothing’. Plenty of good employers with HQ’s outside London or with big regional branches. And if you graft and make enough then you can enjoy buying a much nicer house than you could afford in London.
@@pectenmaximus231 You said 50% and that's a key point. Now remember in London everything will cost you DOUBLE (rent, bills etc). But quite often MOST REGULAR jobs won't be double pay in London compared to midlands/north, so you are either same, or even better off London!
Sadly, not so much the case anymore across the south. WFH/Covid saw Londoners spread out into Brighton, Bristol, Bath etc. Bristol has had it's rents go up 500 quid in a year and apartments are reaching Z2 London prices while wages stay NORF tier.
@@pfftnuffinpersonalkid1541 true rents has gone up significally now even outside of the capital, so if you have a job either in London or elsewhere you will struggle financially regardless. I still believe away of London you can save more in some cases. It all depends what job you do, what's the demand and what you want.
I think a huge issue in Britain is we are now relying on very old and often poorly built infrastructure ( take the RAAC built schools falling down or literally anything built in the 50s/60s ) as well as literally victorian built railway, housing, schools etc I think there needs to be a major investment push on modernising literally everything from the ground up. But this is in turn hindered by the uks archaic laws especially around planning... and then therell be another problem and it goes on and on and on. I have no confidence any political party will work this out at this point 🤷♂
Does feel like a big change in how things work here is needed. Our infrastructure is literally crumbling because it's too old now. And tbf, this is not a problem exclusive to the UK, but we were one of the first on a lot of these things like railways and haven't upgraded them properly since for the most part. China meanwhile was basically undeveloped up until about 20 years ago, they were able to effectively skip the eras of steam trains and slow locomotives, jumping straight to High Speed rail. Maybe in 40 years time the problem will rotate to China where the next growth region (probably Africa) has brand new ultra high speed rail (or something idk) and China's high speed is now crumbling.
The government clearly hasn't learned yet either as the first batch of money "saved" by cancelling the northern leg of HS2 has been allocated to fixing roads around London. That's right, the money "saved" to fund other northern rail projects has been spent on London £260m of it.
I mean, we gave billions to the Government to build the UK's 2nd high speed rail line to connect London with other major cities like Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham etc. and they've just cancelled 50% of it. The UK parliament don't have a clue what they're doing and it's literally causing issues for themselves, and the tax paying Brit
@@Wozza365 another difference though is our old infrastructure was built was long term lifespan in mind. Thank goodness the sewers have been oversized for future growth etc. China builds new and fast but not quality so it all falls apart after a few years (search up Tofu Dreg)
And just as we are starting to build modern transport infrastructure, along comes a City spiv, (Sunak) who cancels the project (HS2). City spiv ? Yes, first at Goldman Sachs, (aka Gold in Sacks), then a hedge funder. MP only since 2015 and thinks he knows the art of politics, and is now prime minister. We really are doomed !
Economies heavily reliant on a single industry, such as finance in the UK, oil in Venezuela, and tourism in Spain, will always be prone to instability and vulnerability to global market changes. In the UK, post-Brexit, this problem of over-reliance is often overshadowed in media discourse by a focus on low-skilled migrants, ignoring the critical need for economic diversification and the reluctance of high-skilled migrants to relocate there. Neither the Conservative nor Labour parties have adequately addressed this diversification issue. The UK government’s move from an Industrial Strategy to a new Plan for Growth post-Brexit raises further doubts about their commitment to a diversified economic future.
What scope is there for industrial diversification though? And the mass migration issue is quite important as it only lowers living standards long term.
@@NikauPalmCalHonestly, both the Tories and Labour seem pretty lukewarm when it comes to fighting climate change. The Cons delayed net-zero deadline and Labour cut back on their pledge for green investment? Doesn't look like either is all in on tackling the climate crisis.
As a non-brit who has a lot of respect and love for all of you guys I'd still like to say that it's very positive that most brits are saying this right now. In the end, these problems are all self inflicted and solvable. Don't get to pessimistic, but also stay mad because you have every right to be. Any other similar country going through the same things would be way worse off, imagine a french brexit
London has been toxic to the average Brit for centuries. We're seeing more devolution now but it's almost too little too late. I'm from Birmingham, what was once an international city. A little known fact was that the UK Government, concerned about the size and success of Birmingham, introduced the Distribution of Industry Act and something called the ‘Brown Ban,’ attempted to shift industrial and office activity away from the city to other parts of the country. My city suffered. Business relocated and London swallowed everything. It's a real shame.
Yes Birmingham was forced to give its industry to Northern cities like Manchester. It was criminal what was done to Brum. Birmingham and the Midlands is the most neglected part of the country considering what it gives and has given to the country.
@@F--B i’m talking pound for pound. For the size of Birmingham and for how much it brings in it definitely gets the short end of the stick when it comes to funding.
I am a citizen of Bristol in the West of the nation. I am a middle class person. Despite being middle class we can barely afford much compared to earlier on in my life. And I honestly don't know how families get by even when they are already starving to survive.
The people behind this channel probably aren't even certified economists. These types of channels with unreliable sources are abundant. What did you expect?
Austerity has been a disaster for the UK. It is a short sighted policy that has accelerated wealth concentration and yet ppl continually vote conservative outside of the London and south regions.
Idk why you're making it seem like the North vote votes conservative and the South doesn't. Its much more an urban - rural split; big cities don't vote conservative while rural England/Wales does. That doesn't even take Scotland and NI into account who are northern and not tory
@@AYTM1200 Not sure about that tbh, there was quite a contrast after the GFC. The EU/UK tightened its belt and generally pursued austerity. Whereas the US went for a $800 billion fiscal stimulus (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009). UK's economy has grown 23% since 2010 and the US's economy has grown by 69% since 2010. The fact is that austerity and a lack of investment has lead to stagnation for economies in Europe.
@@AxolotlFrieze I don't disagree but we can't just say cause there's an increase in GDP that the country is doing better. A lack of investment as you mentioned is more of the issue than austerity itself. Under David Cameron the cuts under the austerity programme weren't used to createore jobs or on capital expenditure but on hiring "experts" to fix the financial mess. Of course they didn't. Cutting down on expenditure isn't inherently bad but if it's not used to help the every day brit it'll do more harm than good. The U.S has a luxury that no other country has which is exportimg inflation around the world so this idea wouldn't be so good in the U.K. because inflation may be even worse.
You should probably mention the little economic boom going on in Manchester. The city is now full of shiny new skyscrapers with many more under construction. Hopefully it can become a regional powerhouse and help with the north south divide.
Unfortunately for Manchester and because of HS2 terminating in Birmingham it will be Birmingham which will continue to boom. It's sucking investments in from the South East and around the world because of it. The population is already rising as people from the South East buy homes in the metro area because the commute will be so short. I'm sure Manchester will continue to be a regional hub for the North West but it won't progress much further than that sadly.
@@vespa81 I disagree; looking at the amount of construction work currently taking place and what is in the pipe line I definitely can see Manchester overtaking Birmingham.
Birmingham Central has been a construction site for decades, its in a constant state of renewal. Birminghams GDP has always been higher than Manchester and is predicted to keep on rising. Manchesters location in the North is a major problem for its growth, it's too far away from London & that isn't going to change.
@@vespa81 Manchester is much more desirable for national and international economics. It's better connected to the world, and it's the most popular UK hub outside of London for pretty much everything. Birmingham unfortunately has developed a bad rep over the decades. Manchester in ten years will be the Frankfurt of the UK - a declined powerful city with a lot of new investment and modernized architecture. HS2 won't truly affect anything, Manchester and London are probably the best connected major UK cities already and is the busiest rail and domestic flight route in the country, with also Manchester being the largest UK airport outside of London.
I am a UK citizen of the last 45 years, residing in the West Midlands, approximately two hours north of London. The harsh reality of the past 30 years in this country is marked by poor governance. Former British Prime Ministers drastically reduced public services during austerity, adversely impacting sectors like health, police, education, and recreation. The aftermath of Brexit compounded these challenges. Recently, rampant inflation has led to a 5.25% interest rate, exacerbating the growing wealth gap. One of the most significant threats to the UK and the wider world is inequality, which is escalating rapidly. With a general election next year, the likelihood of the Conservatives being voted out and Labour taking over is high. However, this change may not necessarily be for the better. Many individuals are leaving, and the government's failure to construct houses, coupled with impractical planning laws, adds to the frustration. Illegal migration persists, with arriving boats placing immigrants in hotels funded by British taxpayers. The situation has left the British people fed up.
It won't be for the better. Every politician in the House of Commons is as interchangable as they are clueless. Sure they run their mouths and get into arguments about different beliefs, but their actions suggest otherwise.
Aw mate, you were doing so well until you veered off about illegal immigrants which basically have an almost negligible effect on the economy compared to everything else. The £8k a year difference between UK and German households is almost entirely down to economic mismanagement and short termism.
@@davidcoveneyit apparently costs 10k per immigrant (illegal or otherwise) to process. Plus paying food/board/spending money for frankly a lot of people is not ideal. Especially when there's a lot of native homeless people already who I personally would rather than money was spent on. Immigration is not the centre of the issues but it's still a point of waste by a government who cuts corners on other people in need
Labours new Housing policy is to build "Georgian Houses" which, of course, means, none at all. Don't even have enough Tradespeople to build apartments, yet going to pull all these 19th century Stonemasons out of the past into the modern day to build houses. Absolutely wild the joke politics in the UK is and the saddest part is the only leader who took it seriously, Corbyn, was smeared to death by the Pro-CoL establishment and Israel.
We do need to start building up other big cities around the UK, concentrating on just London isnt good. We need to spread this out across the country. Especially in a world where things can be done online etc you dont have to be in London to work with/In London.
there is no mobilisation of rural population to urban unlike in developing countries any new city or infrastructure will be a pressure to economy which will encourage politicians to allow immigrants. more peacefulls.
They are called economical hubs…and yes that’s what would be good. For example in the Netherlands we have multiple hubs. Logistics is in the south (Brabant), financial in Amsterdam, medical around Nijmegen, agri around Wageningen and industry around Eindhoven. The universities are usually close to the hub. Doesn’t the Uk have such similar hubs?
Well we have Manchester and Birmingham Manchester is getting somewhere and Birmingham has some way to go Then it's up to the devolved administration to make up their minds what to with Edinburgh Cardiff and Glasgow
@@IsseKonja What has any of that got to do with the UK’s lagging economy and wage stagnation? You can “study harder” all you want but it won’t give you competitive wages compared to opportunities abroad.
For optimism on the UK economy: Third in AI after USA and China, second in quantum computing after the USA, more tech unicorns and more tech start-ups than any other country in Europe. Given these are generally understood to be the future of the 21st and 22nd century economies, I argue there is more scope for optimism than the video suggests.
@@Blackgriffonphoenixg They create jobs which puts food on those families tables. It creates tax revenue to fund the NHS and schools. Be a bit more open minded and less intolerant, the "circle jerks" as you call them are also human beings just like you.
@@Blackgriffonphoenixg Imagine saying this in the 90s 'oh that Microsoft and Apple, those are just techbro startups, it's not like they'll ever employ anyone'
It would be very interesting to see a deep dive in the ERM aspect o this story that you touched upon in this video. If the fiscal policy of Germany was so disastrous for the other ERM members, why were there no checks to prevent Germany from enacting this policy? And did the other ERM members suffer in the same way? It seems odd that the UK needed to match the Reichsmark, but that there was somehow no action required by the Germans to stay within a reasonable range with the Pound through their fiscal policy. in essence, did the UK just join a bad financial relastionship, or was it their own bad polciy that made it turn out even worse?
I think this is close to the brexit type of sovereignty - which is something afforded to the UK but not to others. " no action required by the Germans to stay within a reasonable range with the Pound" Why was there no action required by the english to stay in reasonable range of the DM?
"The pressure on the Finnish Markka was so strong that it abandoned its peg with the ECU. Italy raised its interest rates, but still the lira weakened repeatedly. The Bundesbank did not cut its interest rates enough and speculation continued. The pressures on both lira and sterling became so large, that both were suspended from the ERM (and depreciated rapidly afterwards). The foreign exchange markets remained disturbed for the rest of the year, with a renewed outbreak of speculative pressures leading to the abandonment of Sweden's peg to the ECU, devaluation of both the Portuguese escudo and the Spanish peseta in November and the abandonment of Norway's ECU-peg in December. In January 1993, Ireland witnessed pressure (mostly because of the loss of competitiveness vis-à-vis the UK, that devalued in September 1992) and finally devalued by 10%." www.tcd.ie/Economics/assets/pdf/SER/1996/Moniel_Wolters.html
I live near London, I can say you've hit the nail on the head. Although I think our biggest issues are corruption and confidence in the government, a lack of goverment investment across the board has seen, young people drop out from society and would rather get signed off work, rightfully so. For the poor education, job opportunities, poor quality of living standards. An awful lot of people I know are moving abroad, it's sad. Seeing the country you knew as a child, dissappear and for friends struggling to move out, or find work, without the expensive commute to London and the long days that many people take as standard. It's baffling, that this country is still going.
Almost everyone I know in tech plans to move aboard too. Some companies have policies which allow you to transfer to US teams after a year, so everyone is eager to get an offer at one of those
I grew up in western Canada and moved to London for a job a few years back, the biggest culture shock for me was just seeing the complete non existence of social mobility. in this country as compared to where i was from. On top of all the other listed reasons mentioned in the video, the constant strikes (in every industry) and obvious crumbling infostructure really gives the everyday feeling your living in a country in decline. Its really weird....
What are you talking about, Britain was in ' decline ' in the 70's ,had a recession in the early 90's , in '08 and a very slow ( albeit better than a lot of EU) recovery all the way up to COVID.why are you suddenly talking about 'decline' 😅, it's been muddling along my whole life.
@@jdlc903 We've never bounced back from 08' and there was no bounce back from COVID either. There is no way our for our country. We've got years more of this to come and it's only going to get more difficult.
I genuinely think an important point worth mentioning is that the UK Governments other non-economic policies are also driving talented British professionals away. For example the recent changes to family visa income thresholds which push many families out of the price range for being able to marry a non-britsh spouse and move them to the UK, instead leading them to move to where their partner is from. At this point it is looking easier for me to get an American greencard via my fiancee than her getting a family visa for the UK.
Brilliant point Fyi I saw a headline yesterday saying that policy was possibly being abandoned. Not sure if it will be though. Hope your move goes well whatever happens
The problem with that was the amount of people from India, Pakistani and other south asian countries using it as a way to permanently move to England. A lot of these family members don't speak English and don't integrate. Just look at a company called BooHoo- they set up a sweat shop in England. Hardly any of them spoke English and were therefore easy to take advantage of.
You have to wonder what sort of political climate we have when someone can make a policy so suicidally bad and yet doesn't spark immediate demands for resignation
All of this was known many decades ago. Thatcher was explicitly warned about the consequences of both her union busting and concentration on centralising the economy in London over all other regions. These are the consequences.
Unfortunately for you Brits, Thatcher was as dumb as Ronald Reagan for believing in Trickledown "economics"... our countries share a very similar 40+ year long economic journey.
The unions absolutely destroyed British manufacturing, which in turn tanked the economies of the north and midlands. Blame Thatcher all you want, she just turned off the life support. The unions dealt the killing blow long before.
@@aclark903 Although, as we now know, union leadership was completely and utterly infiltrated by the state - in order to set them up for a fall. It's a pity so little attention is paid to the period.
Also, the 1950s and 1960s were the "golden age" the US. Why? Because unions were strong and powerful. The working class had power and wealth. The capitalists stole that from us with the help of Reagan and Thatcher.
You work for 40yrs to have $1m in your retirement, Meanwhile some people are putting just $10k in a meme coin for just few months and now they are multi millionaires. I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life
Our enlightened governments only strategy seems to be 'More People = More GDP', regardless on the impact on jobs, wage growth, housing, goods & public services. Meanwhile taxes rise, energy policy pushes energy prices up and a failure to manoeuvre on the world stage pushes food up. With no hope in sight as the next government to be supports all the policies that put us in this mess, the sensation of 'drowning' comes to mind.. If you want a country to be wealthy, you need to make the people wealthy and they are doing a fine job of achieving the opposite.
A great video on how governments and economists destroy economies, by artificially manipulating values, is very interesting. This is pretty standard operating procedure, and it is happening all over the world, not just the UK.
All heavy industry was ended from Thatcher to Blair, thus rendering the country defunct for the vast majority to survive. This is reflected in the dire birth rates and the disproportionate importation of non European people.
My money is on Poland for Eastern Europe. It's the best performing country in Eastern Europe. Ireland is the best in Western Europe. Switzerland is the best in Central Europe. Norway is obviously the best in Northern Europe. Southern Europe overall isn't having a great time.
@@cristicristi6500 According to this channel Ireland isn't a tax haven and that wasn't the main reason for their growth either. Maybe look to this video on their neighbour and largest competitor for some other reasons xD
An issue thats always overlooked when looking at the UK is how incredibly centralised our government is. We elect 650 MPs, with the vast majority being English, and most of them coming from the more populated south east and London. Literally every single decision in the UK (apart from some small areas of legislation in Scotland and Wales and sometimes Northern Ireland) has to be made in Parliament. Like, if leeds wants to build a tram, it has to be passed as an act of Parliament, etc. that means that Parliament wastes a huge amount of time on irrelevant things, and it means that far less of these projects actually ever get done which means that for the vast majority of the country everything has been stagnant since the start of austerity. Whilst centralised power is what the mega rich wants and benefit from, it has absolutely shafted the country for decades, especially now that unions and whatnot have no power, so literally all power is in corporations and parliament.
Things are almost never as simple as to lead it back to one reason but in the UK's case if the country would regulate its residential real-estate sector and kicked out all the airbnbs, absentee landlords and limited how many homes one can own in a given part of the country and severely restricted companies' ability to own residential homes, young people would have the ability to buy a home and realize some equity with the added benefit of feeling that their lives aren't pointless filling the pockets of a landlord overseas who owns the house they live in. This one thing: protect the local person's ability to own their place before investors buy up everything would have immense ripple effects and would improve the productivity of the country that currently suffers from landlords milking the average Joe's wallet every month that in turn can not start a business, can not buy goods and services, and who can't even put insulation on their home because it simply costed too much to acquire in the first place because of investors that they can no longer afford to update it so instead loses precious energy and in-turn money spent on that wasted energy putting most people on a poverty spiral.
Buy-to-Let is a cancer which is destroying the UK housing sector. A sector which was already ravaged from Right-to-Buy 35 years ago. No person should be allowed to hoard housing for profit when others want to buy their own - assets that those hoarders expect hard-working people to pay off while they sit back and have someone collect rent on their behalf.
Also the let properties are not maintained properly as the owner landlords want to maximise the cash cow and this has led to a swathe of sub standard properties and a more depressing environment.
What you are proposing is a pipedream. The UK's success has and will always be predicated off someone else's misfortune, and the profits will be calculated as close to the national and international market will allow. Regulation will be met with people lobbying for removing regulation or exploiting loopholes in regulations.
When your economy is geared to make sure the investment class get most of the benefits of the economy, your citizens suffer, while your nation declines. The investment class must take care of the nation that protects their assets. It is time to tax the investment class, they receive to many tax breaks.
Maybe one day the UK government will remember there’s more to the UK than just London… huge potential of the north and midlands major cities who just get forgotten about
@@willbentley8856 what have you been sniffing 😂😂Leeds is the biggest city in Europe without a mass transit system, which part of the funnel is that money coming from? Typical southerner reply
10:34 not sure how you can say the UK is failing in education when it's climbing up world rankings, or that it's bad at technology when it's only one of three tech markets in the world valued at >$1tn
British teachers have a done a great job despite so many cuts, fully funded education will see Britain rise. Even immigrants have done very well in British schools this is very rare to see for first generation in other European countries
The UK isn't though it's at an embarrassing 14th place! and losing to countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea. All countries where the best educated in the highest paying industries will emigrate to. It's brain drain just like Italy loses their best to Germany, France and the Netherlands the UK is losing it's best to other English speaking countries. You have to remember that these people will emigrate to earn the big bucks then move back to the UK in retirement for the free NHS that they haven't contributed to by working abroad for 30-40 years.
@@Ushio01 14th place isn't embarassing at all. And I never said the UK was top of the list, I said it was RISING. In other words, climbing in rank year on year. How was that so hard to understand? Basic reading comprehension beyond your grasp?
It’s worth noting London dominates the U.K. economy but it isn’t where all the innovation takes place. From Glasgow satellite manufacturing to Manchester materials, Teeside hydrogen and Liverpool life sciences, alongside as many as 25 other globally recognised hubs around the UK - we have world class R&D. Including world class universities, like Oxford and Cambridge. Innovation is one of Britains strengths but excessive bureaucracy and problems with our greatest innovators accessing funding/investment is some of the biggest hurdles to overcome.
What i feel personally that makes people in the UK less and less well off and less able to spent is that income tax, other national tax, and especially local council taxes and fees and licences and fines are way way too high and have been always rising in the last decade. While wages, which are low, remaimed low, and never seemed to rise at all. Rent is ridiculous compared to 20 years ago too.
The good thing is that people are talking about the economic problems in the UK. Hopefully there will be some political change and some smart and hard working people to help solve the problems.
@@thomasmahoney4991 Aye, politicians don't really solve problems they are just playing a popularity contest, appeasing people in the media and taking credit. Scientists, engineers, teachers etc are responsible for most of the benefits to humanity.
Yup. Most of the country looks like Islamabad already, so it's not like there's even much to leave behind. The Britain I knew as a child, the unique and distinctive culture and nation: has been totally destroyed.
The UK have a skills shortage because generations of native Brits have grown accustomed to doing nothing and living on benefits, being a burden on taxpayers. The social system created a huge social problem. Then you have people living in the past who oppose every regional investment in the UK. The farcical situation of the HS2 railway says it all.
You miss out the fact that the UK's industrial sector was deliberately dismantled by successive governments starting with Thatcher. Nobody has become accustomed to living on benefits by choice. Entirely by design.
Well said. I don’t think a lot of Brits understand the ridiculous amount of money being spent on the welfare state. What was designed to be a safety net for vulnerable people/ times has been exploited and inadvertently resulted in incentivising welfare as a lifestyle.
I left the UK in 2012 because despite being as highly trained as I could be to work as a journalist, finding a job in the UK was impossible. I walked straight into jobs in New Zealand and now I work in corporate communications and I've never looked back. The other big issue for the UK economy since 2010 has been austerity. Some of the deepest cuts in public spending in British history have been made in the last decade, stifling the few green shoots of growth that were emerging post 2008 GFC. These spending cuts have been felt most acutely in the regions, where Local Goverbment provision and contracts are a big driver of economic growth. With many Local Authorities having had their budgets cut by as much as half, resulting in significant job losses and all but the most essential services cut, the economy in the regions has taken an absolute battering. Plus recent political decisions and the country's appalling handling of COVID, plus Brexit has only made things worse.
Maybe you couldn’t get a job in the U.K. because you’re not very good at interviewing or worth hiring … New Zealand is known to be pretty desperate and will take anyone on so not surprising you got a job there. In the U.K. they look for quality workers.
@@apangel100 No, in the UK it's extremely neoptistic. The good entry level jobs go to people in the know. The irony is that these are people who have been spoon fed and are largely rubbish. Hence the downturn of everything.
Would LOVE to see a video on Chile, its relative stability when comparing to the rest of Latam, its current political turmoil since 2019, and the potential to become a global player in the green economy, being a global leader in key markets, like copper, lithium, and potentially green hydrogen...
10:26 very much suffering from success. i've worked with utility companies (water) before and its known that they lack behind peers in countries like Germany because the UK's infrastrure was made in the 1800s, whereas Germany's by comparison was bombed and destoryed then redeveloped in a more modern era.
I'm not sure that the Britain's problems began in 1992. Britain had to call in the IMF in 1976 and between 1931 and 1976 there was at least one currency crisis a decade. Relative decline probably began around 1850 but there has been real decline in Britain's standing since WWI. Ironically the wealth inequality and regional divide was a feature even in the country's heyday, and our Etonian rulers wouldn't have it any other way.
I now live in greater London, albeit very far from the centre, and I am always taken aback when I pay a visit home, to Stoke-on-Trent by how increasingly dire things are there. However, there are little 'hot spots' outside of London Manchester, which is rather impressive. I the UK has three big problems. Intergenerational disparity of wealth (Boomers v. Everybody else). Secondly, the breakdown of national infersyructure. It's owned and run by private companies, so neither they nor the government have an interest in maintaining it. Finally, Brexit. Not only all its negative results but also how utterly divided it has left the country.
I think Stoke on Trent is one of the poorest/deprived areas In the U.K though. I remember being quite shocked by the place in the late 1990s on my way to job interviews in Manchester. I completely agree with your other points of view.
Amazingly its gotten worse in Stoke since the late 90s. Really no industry anymore, the internet killed most retail. But the 'richer' bits now look like they're in the third world and the poor bits like a war zoon.@mattcrispin6737
Oh yikes!! The Gary, Indiana of the U.K maybe. Let's hope things get turned around. The wandering Turnip did an interesting video on Stoke recently@@ganrimmonim
Black Monday seems a bit arbitrary as a line in the sand given that the Pound had lost about as much value from the 1967 Sterling crisis to Black Monday as it has now lost since Black Monday. And unlike the economically turbulent period that followed the 1967 crisis, things really turned around for the UK after Black Monday until the GFC, austerity, and Brexit started eating away at all those gains.
@@br5380 if it was then the long term challenges took hold well before Black Monday, which is my conclusion. The UK had two messy devaluations and even sought an IMF bailout in the decades leading up to Black Monday. And the most acute phase of deindustrialization also preceded Black Monday.
@@xandervlassenbroeck5222missed that, all I remember was that I was working in France and found out when I rang my wife that evening, based on the 'news' our mortgage was now more than I earned.
Those disposable income numbers at 1:20 are highly misleading. The official definition of disposable income is what we all call gross income and doesn't include rent, mortgage or any living costs and so of course it's going to be much higher in London because all those other costs are also far higher. A better metric is discretionary income (adjusted for mortgage payments which are usually investments) which is what's left after paying out all the unavoidable legal and living costs, inc rent etc.
From watching Clarkson's Farm, I don't understand how any individual in England doesn't just throw their hands up and give up trying to own and operate their own businesses. The amount of frivolous regulation and local council meddling is at Monty Python levels of absurdity.
Clarkson moved to an area of outstanding natural beauty where the landscape is famed for its lack of development and bucolic scenes. He moved in and tried to develop one thing after another, he's a nonce. The Cotswolds is not the place to run a retail farming empire, he could easily achieve that in Lincolnshire, East Anglia, East Midlands, so many places that aren't protected. If every farmer did this the area would be an over developed mess, and another beautiful piece of Merry England becomes a grey morass, ruined by intensive agriculture.
@@LeHosko "ruined by intensive agriculture" Really??? What about food? You don't like food? Want to depend on other countries for imports? UK has VAST areas of national parks, the majority of the UK is wilderness overall, most of the population are concentrated in a rather small area.
Our rights to do what we wanted on land we owned were given away in 1947 without much fanfare. Individuals (like albert dryden) have fought but the nimbys still rule
Let's maybe not use the North-South divide viewpoint so loosely. Remember that the other major cities/towns throughout Southern England - Bristol, Southampton, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Luton - have also been financially and economically neglected. Cornwall is one of the poorest regions in Europe and it's the most southern region of the country
Bristol does alright economically but can’t believe it doesn’t have a mass transit system of some sort - not even trams! Even little old Cardiff across the water has trams coming
This was one of the clearest videos you’ve made, and for once it didn’t go too fast. Brilliant! But I wished you’d said more about regional inequality.
It's honestly really worrying what's happening to their economy. I have a few friends that live in the UK and it sucks, they know what's coming and can't really do much about it either, and stuff's already crazy expensive apparently.
Brit here - it's getting to be a joke. A lot of rich people just getting greedy. The tax system is against middle earners so people don't progress. Government's just look for short term solutions and blame everything on immigration.
Living in north east England and can agree with the user above me. It was real bad in 2020 and half of 2021. But since last year everything is basically back to normal. We have crazy discounts all year round. Haven’t spent any crazy money on grocery, bills and etc. Speaking as an immigrant who constantly travels, moves and eats out a lot. I have friends in Germany and France and they’re having hard time keeping up with the increasing rates of rent and food prices going up.
@@BrockSamson-i1i A lot of things have increased by over 25% not to mention energy that is over double of what it was in 2020, the price is also going up in January. for some reason.... And really prices don't really go back down.... i mean why would they
UK needs more diversification of how they run things. In a country like USA, California provides social programs due to high taxes but there are also states like Texas that offer no income tax and cheap housing if a person wants to leave.
I read the Richard Morgan book Market Forces earlier this year. It depicts a near future Britain where the financial industry has taken over the government and anywhere outside of London is known as “The Zones”. Areas of lawless poverty where Executives are able to do whatever they like. Seemed like a well penned anti-conservative bit of paranoia but now….
UK is in doom cycle - terrible Administrations for the last 30 years and zero control over its southern border. However this video is simplistic. London in fact has huge challenges and arguably (or at least relatively) cities like Manchester and Bristol have had more impressive performance over the last 20 years. Still the central criticism that the UK’s population shift married with its over dependence on services and lack of smart government is driving it into the ground is pretty spot on.
Plenty of problems, but a relatively young and growing population, technologically driven, global and open society, safe place to keep money, common law and an acceptance that business drives growth and improvements in living standards. Which is to say, lots that Brittania's near neighbours and rivals are pitifully short of. Greetings from Spain.
young and growing population - Dont have that. global and open society - Bad thing. safe place to keep money - Doesnt really help us. common law - which has some utterly mental things an acceptance that business drives growth - Yet its awful to run a business in the UK improvements in living standards - stagnant for years.
Their demographic is a bit better than us in older countries of the eu but their councils are still spending ~70% on social care, some of the things you mention is why almost everything is in centered around london, they aren´t open nowadays but thats something increasing in most european countries, better for bussiness benefits london, their living standards aren´t better than in my country imo but wages are higher, food is cheap tho.
Uk population is ageing and birth rates are low meanwhile Living standards are declining for many people, increasing poverty etc. you don’t know what you’re talking about
Our population is growing because of staggering immigration - which is utterly destroying the character of the country, making housing unaffordable, overloading our public services and creating huge social divisions and conflicts. If there's one thing the UK desperately needs, it's to return immigration to 1990s levels: and start being a LOT pickier about who we let in.
The loss of skilled people and the gain of unskilled, and in many cases unskillable people*, is a disaster for Britain. *illiterate, in terms of language, technical ability and cultural and social conformity. This effects the economy is so many ways. Apart from doing simple repetitive jobs most of these imports are just a drain on the state.
I just read an article called "Is the UK Becoming A Third World" Country in The Luxury Playbook that says exactly what you describe and goes even more in depth. Unfortunately we are doomed.
I definitely want to see some analysis on how we're actually comparing to the rest of the world. Obviously, there are a lot of complaints regarding particularly food and housing prices - but how much (if any) worse is it here compared to the rest of the (developed) world
Canada has similar challenges, but compared to the UK, and many other countries around the world, it's doing quite well. There's an internal perception that the sky is falling, but it really isn't.
It's the same global plan. US CANADA UK AUS It's a globalist plan to collapse all economies. US and Canada will go first, Agentina already gone. Europe will follow then we will enter full depression. Im not doom and gloom i just paid attention. Pray More.
It's more tied in to Americas Economy rather than Europes stagnant Economy. My brother just moved there, prices are silly, but there's still more opportunity than the UK.
I have honestly only heard bad things about Canada the past few years. It's really hard to find a Canadian who is happy with the nation atm. But Americans for example seem to still think it's better off than what they got. But then I see comments saying Canadians are moving to the US or Mexico. So I'm not really sure. But just in a general sense Canada not doing to good I think.
I think Tokyo holds like 30 million people. But there are some major cities in Japan that help it look more balanced than the UK with only the one major economic center. I don't really know much about SK cities. I think Busan is big?
France is Paris, Germany is Berlin, Spain is Madrid, Italy is Rome, USA is New York etc. Hence why they are called Capital Cities. The most powerful one in the world is New York and is considered the hammer of the whole earth. It will, of course, be brought to its knees by the power of God himself. It’s not a matter of if, but when.
Yes, far too much emphasis on the infrastructure of London to the detriment of the rest of the UK, rg hs2 to Leeds and Manchester which if completed would provide a faster and ecological method of freight distribution and also serve as anchors for further HS links to Northern England and Scotland
As a Mancunian, from northern England, this is slightly overblown and sensationalist. We’ve taken a big economic hit from Covid like everyone has but this so called North-South divide is far less prominent than it was 30 years ago. Manchester was horrendous in the 90s and it’s infinitely more prosperous now, with a lot more opportunity. A lot of businesses are sick of London rates and are moving up north for a better deal, in this new WFH age. I work in recruitment and have actually seen the north catching up post Covid.
@@Bebrou66 Ah, so you’re just being ignorant under this video for fun. Figures, from your other comments that couldn’t understand the difference between suburbs in Europe and North America . Please educate yourself about other countries. The U.K. is indeed none of the things you have just listed.
@@Bebrou66 Well I don’t agree that it’s the worst in the west at all. Every western nation has its pros and cons, and many of the cons are basically the same if not worse in other western nations. Sadly the US consistently places last/ close to last in most categories outside of money, in the west. So that would easily be my choice, and that’s not to say the US is a “bad” country, just that we have a lot of flaws. But of course everyone is different and things like safety or healthcare may not be as important to them. I listed some in the other thread, for reasons why my life is better living in England.
Just because Manchester has built a few fancy skyscrapers, penthouse suites and fancy offices doesn't mean the gap is closing. Please come to Sheffield and tell me there isn't a north south divide. Manchester has seen massive investment over the past 10 years, we in Sheffield still don't even have a single electrified heavy rail line, something you've had since the 60's. Our only chance at getting the Midland mainline electrified is from HS2 being cancelled and even then it looks like we wont see the wires until 2030 at the earliest, that's of course it doesn't get cancelled AGAIN.
Are you saying the country had problems when certain migrants came in from another country? Im pretty sure the British empire was on a decline before them
This is all on top of the fact that Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are all looking at splitting from England. I think the disparity is pushing people to seperation of power from a very very centralised position in London.
Couldn’t agree more that we are over dependent on the London financial sector, and I work in it. Classic example of living regionally but moving to London to get a good job in finance (even though I find it boring), because we have very few other industries that offer a decent salary.
Developed nation? Virtually all non-African countries are now developed by the conventional metrics that define that word. Maybe you mean white-Anglo Saxon investor class country? Well, here in South Africa that money would make you a rich man, doubly so if your wife earns that too. Of course, you would have to put up with the crime and widening social decay.
With modern communications, the "grunts" of Civil Service Departments could be distributed throughout the UK Regions, helping to smooth out the income differences and, more importantly, their contribution to local economies. Local economies ARE the drivers of the national economy, a FACT frequently overlooked by the Metropolitan bubble mentality of our political masters. The gradual redistribution of government services, not a sudden wholesale push, is required. A sudden, massive change would be as destabilising as the concentration of capital power has been.
it would be cool to get another video on the spanish economy. it has done quite well the last two years., and it would complement the italy and greece videos. Also, last time you forgot to put it in the economic leaderboards
The issue with the UK is its prioritised the wrong industries, not invested in infrastructure and not build enough houses. The biggest issue underpinning then is the system itself. Local government is rife with obstructionist tendencies that prevent innovation, housing and infrastructure. While Westminster only cares about London and treasury doesn't want to pay for anything that doesn't make money in the short term. All colliding together to make the current mess
Not building enough houses lol, come to where I live the countryside is slowly being eaten away by endless new housing developments meanwhile no new schools etc are being built and we're losing GP surgeries, that's the problem, nothing being built to support the growing population.
Managed decline. Corporate fascists have shafted us for decades. Dangled carrots and given some of us sweets to placate us. The last time a reservoir was built in England was over 30 years ago.
Long term illness in old age is going to be a huge problem for the UK. You only have to come back to the UK from a few weeks overseas and people just look ill by comparison over here, and these are people in their 20s and 30s who should be fit and healthy. I wouldn’t be surprised if, because of the chronic underfunding of the NHS, the levels of undiagnosed illness is twice that of other developed nations.
Interesting video, However, Black Wednesday wasn’t really the start of economic uncertainty in Britain. In fact it’s colloquially called white Wednesday as it was the beginning of 16 years of economic expansion that lasted until 2008.
Why no mention of the 1976 Sterling crisis? This is a very important event in recent history of the UK economy in which the UK had to go begging to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout!
![(FULL) 크라운해태 vs 웰컴저축은행 [2024-25 PBA팀리그 4R / DAY5]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/CPyUXTFS_0Q/mqdefault.jpg)
Start trading with zero-commission at www.trading212.com/promocodes/EE and use code EE to get a share worth up to £100.
All started with socialist spending policies and ended with an invasion of foreigners! We will retake our nation!
We are being invaded and replaced!
@@Houthiandtheblowfish 😂😂😂
yo what can b the solution to uk s problem ? like giving tax cuts ? or making new investments in industries like AI ?
Would love a video on scotland and if independence from the UK is financially viable and knock on effects
The problem with the UK is that it is run by billionaires for billionaires, most of them are not even British.
Never found a problem that couldn't be blamed on foreigners right?
this channel brings the same story about France, Italy, Spain............ Great Britain is still strong, of course there are sectors where it can improve. But every country in Europe will have an effort to achieve great growth every year, not like India or other developing countries which have to build up his infrastructure, real estate and more!
@@michaelcoward1902 He's right you clown. Britain's elites are occupiers - A remnant left over from the Norman French or Norse. Because the Brits can not bear arms, they cannot overthrow them. You need firearms to overthrow an occupier.
@@michaelcoward1902 Credit where its due.
Like for example, the prime minister and his wife. Billionaires who would jump ship as soon as it sinks
London cannot ruin Britain. It achieved that decades, if not centuries ago. London has always behaved as if it is a separate state rather than the capital city, and the North-South divide has been an issue from before the Industrial Revolution. The government is full of platitudes about levelling up, but achieves little. Politicians generally see little benefit from levelling up. They may be, supposedly, the representatives of the whole country, but their every thought is influenced by the Londoncentric way that the country is run.
@DontReadMyProfilePicture.273ok won't but gonna report your acc
Technically a part of London is not park of the uk
@@francishandscomb8108 the City of London is part of the UK, it's just a special administrative unit. It's the Crown Dependencies which aren't part of the UK.
London is the goose that lays the golden eggs, slaughtering it would be remarkably stupid.
The problem is the UK regulated out of existence all the other regions of the country. Stopped coal mining which killed the country’s steel production and manufacturing. Introduce protections for unions and minimum wages further making it impossible to manufacture in the UK.
It’s only going to get worse, London will continue to grow, and the North will live a life on benefit street.
"London always behaved as if it was a state"
Well that makes sense... The Empire of Britannia is dejure just UK plus Ireland... Without any external Colonies.
And Britain it's self was many separate kingdoms that created and empire. So yeah...
The rest of the UK was just the imperial possession of London.
(Small kingdoms being unified into England, then England as a United kingdom uniting with other kingdoms to make the actual UK... By the definition an empire is Kingdom of Kingdoms and the English one was certainly an empire before colonisation)
The UK didn't really learn from the financial crisis. They thought it was a temporary blip on the never ending gravy train of banking and financial services. Austerity destroyed any chance it had of reshaping the economy to be more diversified and solid. When it was apparent the world had moved on from deregulated banking as a bedrock of the economy it was left behind. Couple this with being a huge import economy with a weakening currency and actively voting to make importing more difficult and a government who still blindly believes everything is going fine and we are where we are.
best comment ive seen, problems are dire but not impossible to solve, politicians are just stuck in a pre 2008 everything will be ok mindset
The government blindly believe everything is fine, cause for people like them, it is... they're in fuckin clover, it's the rest of us that are supposed to a) suffer quietly and b) see our money become worthless...
Nothing is by coincidence
What else should a Government say - everything is rubbish? If you are in opposition you will say that. A year after you are voted in as Government you will see everything positively. Not just the case in the UK though.
@@drmbachler2312 But what they're saying doesn't ring true to the people living here. People want to be told how things are going to improve not how good they already have it. Comparable countries have pulled away from us in recent years.
I understand a governments prerogative is to talk up their achievements but I'm not sure even privately they've admitted that things in the UK aren't good and that it needs radical change.
As an American who moved here for his British wife, here's my perspective: As an IT professional with >20 years experience, the wages for those jobs are abysmal in the UK as compared to the US. Friends I have spoken to across the entire professional spectrum all say the same. The salaries offered elsewhere are more appealing for the same work. It is brain drain, pure and simple. Then you compound the decades of under-building and the housing shortage and you're just constantly fighting this unnecessary uphill battle. We're moving out of country in 2024.
100% correct. I think I'd comfortably get a $300k+ job in the US without much effort. Unless you're directly in finance, wages are about 1/2 to 1/3rd of the US.
Escape while you still have US experience
Do the jobs pay the same when you factor in free British Healthcare?
@@dannydaw59 Easily more still despite the 'free' healthcare that you're put on a 5 year waiting list to get anything done...
@@dannydaw59 you're free to wait forever. If you want better wages and government healthcare, Australia and Canada are great options.
Unfortunately, the video doesn't comment much on regional inequality at all, which I was expecting from the thumbnail, premise or introduction. Otherwise, it's a nice case study.
Yeah would be helpful since a lot of elderly-middle class and wealthy people serious doubt that regional inequality exists
Yeah, I really don't see the connection between current structural issues and Black Wednesday. It had huge consequences for short-term economic policy and counter-inflationary policy, but confidence in the UK's economic policy had been shaky since the 1960s at best. Regional inequality has been ingrained in the UK economy for decades, and was only made worse by deindustrialisation and financialization in the 1960s to '90s. They've really not done a good job explaining things.
@@Wazzok1 Agreed. This has been a very sterile explanation of the current massive inequality inherent in the British state. It has looked at the symptoms but not the causes. As someone in the UK, this sort of video ironically will suit an agenda of maintaining status quo for the elderly middle-upper class, the elite and those who stand to inherit wealth.
not sure regional inequality is noteworthy as every decent sized country would have that. US, China, Russia, big regional inequality in all. It's almost to be expected.
@@xiphoid2011 "not sure regional inequality is noteworthy as every decent sized country" What they mean is "ohhhh itss soooo unfair how the North/Scotland is treated" It is not true. Essentially the UK has a very wealthy capital and almost everywhere else sucks. But the North/Scots whine endlessly as they want special treatment. I imagine this goes on in other countries in some way.
Sadly with each passing day we can see the impact this awful policy has had on the UK. Tied up in red tape and tariffs with lower GDP than before the pandemic whilst the others in the G7, including Italy, are above. The lower GDP means we do not have the headroom to pay our way in the world and must resort to borrowing.Whilst there are rich people in the UK; a great many of us are poor and now we are poorer still. What steps can we take to generate more income during quantitative adjustment?
It is critical for everyone to prioritise investing in a variety of income streams that are independent of the government in light of the ongoing global economic crisis. Investigating stock, gold, silver, and digital currency opportunities is part of this. Despite the difficult economic climate, now is still a good time to think about making these investments. Individuals can seek counsel from a certified financial advisor to optimize financial outcomes, who can provide specialized advice and methods to decrease expenses and maximize income.
I agree, that's the more reason I prefer my day to day investment decisions being guided by an advisor seeing that their entire skillset is built around going long and short at the same time both employing risk for its asymmetrical upside and laying off risk as a hedge against the inevitable downward turns, coupled with the exclusive information/analysis they have, it's near impossible to not out-perform, been using my advisor for over 2years+ and I've netted over 2.8million.
This is exactly how i wish to get my finances coordinated ahead of retirement. Can you recommend the financial advisor you used to get ahead?
Colleen Janie Towe covers things like investing, insurance, making sure retirement is well funded, going over tax benefits, ways to have a volatility buffer for investment risk. many things like that. Just take a look at her full name on the internet. She is well known so it shouldn't be hard to find her.
The UK is doing bad, but has grown more than France, Italy and Germany since 2016
France and Spain have both managed to create regional centres. Places you visit that feel significant and of importance; Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lyon or Bilbao, Santander, Seville. Good infrastructure investment and good regional politics with local decision making seems key.
This is the key for the UK. Significant regional devolution to major metropolitan areas and key regions. Too much is dictated and decided by London, holding everything up. It's a stranglehold, release that and Manchester, Birmingham etc will take off on their own initiative and steam.
Have you been to Seville? Most terrifying place I've driven so far, crumbling roads with no road markings and barely any signs. Worse than driving in the US or Middle East in some parts. I'll give a fair shout to the bus services. Probably about the same as Birmingham tbh.
Eh, Spain is dealing with the echoes of Facism.
@@SCHMALLZZZWhat does that have to do with what he's saying?
@@razorbird789 And, when was that? in 1950?
Osaka use to be called the Manchester of the east, it has since overtaken - Osaka's current GDP per capita is around $59k vs Manchester $37k.
Manchester is now known as Pakistan of the west.
@@stevenchan3822 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@stevenchan3822 Not Birmingham?
Japans debt to gdp is also 250% plus. It’s a ticking time bomb
Anyone can print money. To the credit of Japan it has created huge economic value since WW2.@@p3regrine664
For as long as I can remember the UK economy has been in serious trouble (I'm 59)
I asked my 94-year-old dad if he remembered a time when the UK was not in crisis...he couldn't....
That's capitalism for you.
that's what happens when you can't rely on imperialism@@chris.bcfc.keeprighton.5685
Then why do people keep moving there? Why, for example, Indians move to UK but we somehow always never see British people move to India?
because of strong positive PR @@itsvmmc
@@itsvmmc Because "Crisis" is just background noise.
The UK is now and pretty much always has been a better place to live than the majority of countries in the world.
We should point out that our current PM was one of the investment bankers directly responsible for kicking off the 08 crash
And also Indian
@@BlueBird-wb6kbthat has something to do with it?
@@BlueBird-wb6kbabout as Indian as chicken tikka masala. Has the aesthetics of an Indian, but he’s your homegrown blend.
@@crab276yep, Sunak is a product of the British private school system same as the likes of Cameron, Johnson and all the rest! He may as well be David Cameron doing Blackface there’s so little difference between them! 😂
Indians are smart @@BlueBird-wb6kb
Governments need to realize focusing so much on financial services in pursuit of immediate gdp growth is short sighted. The British government should exist to serve the British people, not to serve gdp growth
Is has to be both or you don't have much of an economy to serve the people.
@@HH-le1vi sure. My point is that a national economy should be balanced and diversified in order to benefit more people. GDP growth is only of value if it benefits citizens, and an economy that relies heavily on financial services at the expense of other industries doesn't benefit the nation's citizens. It benefits the investor class and their imported labor over citizens.
everything the government does is short sighted. The great conundrum we face :/
@@themeister7037 businesses aren't any better. Most individuals either. Individuals vote for these stupid governments.
This is also the excuse used to justify infinite immigration - "It grows GDP". But it also makes life for the locals worse and worse.
Much of the wealth in UK, especially London, lies in property. At some point, the penny will drop and people will realise that London is overvalued as a place to work and live and when that happens and property prices plummet, there will be a huge drop in national wealth across the board
Exactly, we live under a global misconception that property is a sure thing
Not even true.
Didn't this happen in 2008?
Yeah, that's not what London's wealth is based on at all.
Britain is governed by and for London, the rest of the UK exists to provide London with workers, water and food.
Yeah. It’s very Hunger Games
And London is governed for the owners of the massive flows of the world’s blood-money throughout its offshore territories. As the video said: the one differentiator of the City of London is their capacity to unethically “look the other way.” That is all Britain has got today. Let that sink in…. Now does the motivation for Brexit become clear? They could not afford to submit this iniquity to EU scrutiny.
You mean like a monarchy? Because what you just described sounds an awful lot like a monarchy 🤔
@@TheAmericanAmericanIndeed. Let's not forget without queen Elisabeth's signiture no bombing in Syria would have occured
England is London. Everyone living in England actually lives in London - just depends on how far away you live from the centre of London. Most of the English population is within a two hour commute to central London. All of Englands regional areas are suburbs of London. Some regional areas are nice suburbs while others are backwater suburbs, etc. The closer you live to central London then the better your wealth will be. When you understand this - you understand England.
Productivity has been in decline in the UK since the mid-nineties. Its been overdependent on financial services for decades, whilst the rest of Europe had grown a deep culture of mid-sized businesses, manufacturing, managment and business process expertise. Faced with the question about productivity, outside of finance, no one in the UK really knows how to go about this and what it would take. It will be a long road to get there...
The UK has the largest number of mid and small sized companies in Europe. Please read some stats before you waffle again.
I've seen article headlines about how young people just don't want to work hard anymore. So maybe an actual honest self examination is in order.
@@lyricaljaffacakes2946 Where’d you get your stats? Everything I can find says Germany has the most and the UK isn’t even top 10 on many lists
@@recoil53 this young people not wanting to work is a disingenuous Telegraph take. What about the fact that many pensioners have lived 30 years past the old life expectancy retired? Not contributing income tax? You see?I can level the same sort of Reductive statements at an entire demographic.
Reductive analysis is all the rage in the UK. Made more poignant by the literati of right wing journalists.
It’s been in decline since the mass importation of the third world. You can’t import the numbers it has done and expect production levels to remain high.
Trying to get investment for a technology company in Scotland (or anywhere not London) goes like: "why not in London?", "Because the company is in Scotland and most of the demand and opportunity for wealth growth via the investment is in Scotland", "oh" (and in one particular case this was an Aussie investor too)
And foreign investment in London typically means the assets and revenue will in the future not be via the UK (usually moves to the US), so it literally extracts wealth from the whole UK on average.
What's the company? I'm Scottish in IT looking to build something great
espionage 101
Living in other parts of the UK, then moving to London was eye-opening. Whilst rent is higher in London, your wages even in entry level work is so much higher. That means buying houses in London is ridiculously expensive whilst other parts are cheaper ... so Londoners can just buy property that the people that actually live there cannot.
Cornwall is on average quite well off, but travel to some of the towns and cities, especially Portleven in autumn, and it's dead. All the young people leave because there's no chance to earn enough to sustain themselves and so all you're left with is the old, the rich and the holidaymakers. It's unsustainable.
Cornwall is the perfect depiction of what plagues the UK:
Low local wealth creation
While the local existing wealth is snatched up by people with way higher incomes living somewhere else
Rent, bills and housing in general is DRAMATICALLY higher in London then midlands and north. Your salary is only a bit higher. Put it in percentages and you'll see. Therefore the average Londoner, I'm talking about to ordinary guy is much poorer than the someone in another city/town.
Check how much a house costs in midlands vs in London (or rent). Then compare salary.
You said "Londoners can just buy property that the people that actually live there cannot" even though there's some true to it, nobody(unless investor) wants to buy a property elsewhere of where they live. If a Londoner can BARELY buy a property up North, but not in London is the same as when a foreign millionaire can buy property in London where a Londoner cannot :)
Main places Londerners are destroying is, Bristol, Bath, Brighton etc. WFH Londoners moving there have seen the rents absolutely skyrocket to unbelievable levels since Covid while local wages stay the same, meaning it's near impossible to live on a single income in those areas now. God forbid Londoners find out about Leeds, Nottingham and Sheffield, will be the last straw for me and I will leave haha
@@pfftnuffinpersonalkid1541it’s not just WFH Londoners moving to these places. There’s a surprising amount of people commuting into central London from places like Reading, Swindon, Chippenham, Bath even Bristol! Anyplace in the West Country along the train line into London basically! In Chippenham there’s an abnormal amount of one bed flats/studio flats now be they larger houses that have been split up or purpose built places! All advertised highlighting their accessibility and proximity to the train station and therefore the trains into London Paddington!
@@pfftnuffinpersonalkid1541 they already have found out about Sheffield. seems a lot of southerners come up here, fall in love with the place and never leave.
Currency flows are also a huge issue. Wealthy citizens can and do just leave and take their money elsewhere. Meanwhile, poor citizens are stuck with the sinking ship.
Taxes can't be raised on the engine of the economy because the rich can move their cash out of the UK if they do, so instead citizens are the only people who can be reliablely taxed.
There us some truth to that but the flipside is that there is a lot of foreign money in London that is only there because its not getting taxed in the first place.
@@liestricks true. What is clear is foreign money is causing a huge distortion to how London operates.
If taxes were to scare it away, you would see London return to a more normal British city.... And also see the UK economy collapse as the foreign money holding it up leaves....
Ban dual citizenship
What if the rich people don't want to move out of the UK though? I can't imagine them complaining about not being able to afford to live here and just moving to another country because takes are cheaper.
@@TheTerrier Are you suggesting that less of a communities' economic wheight should be carried by those with the means to leave?
This was not really as insightful as I expected as someone who actually works in financial services in London. Agree with the comments that say this should talk more about the other regions in the UK
HS2 being cancelled really opened my eyes. Not cause it was cancelled that was obviously going to happen, but becuase the things they promsied thd money to go into they've being promisng for around 50years.
Can confirm as a UK individual not living in London there is just less opportunity in my neck of the woods, what opportunity that is here is paid up to 50% of the equivalent job in London. Feels like you`re limited because you`re family is not in the capital.
On the upside, rent is far cheaper than London. Everything's more expensive in London
Buying an inhabitable house starts at half a mil - and that’s to live somewhere with a considerable commute. That commute costs a few grand a year, if it’s trains you’re taking. Wasting all the wonderful time in your life on a commute no less. The adjusted salaries outside London really do account for cost of living. Not to be too defensive of London - I live in the north - but I think I want to share how I see things in case it’s helpful. It’s definitely true that economic prospects outside of a limited number of places in the UK are grim, but it’s not ‘London or nothing’. Plenty of good employers with HQ’s outside London or with big regional branches. And if you graft and make enough then you can enjoy buying a much nicer house than you could afford in London.
@@pectenmaximus231 You said 50% and that's a key point. Now remember in London everything will cost you DOUBLE (rent, bills etc). But quite often MOST REGULAR jobs won't be double pay in London compared to midlands/north, so you are either same, or even better off London!
Sadly, not so much the case anymore across the south. WFH/Covid saw Londoners spread out into Brighton, Bristol, Bath etc. Bristol has had it's rents go up 500 quid in a year and apartments are reaching Z2 London prices while wages stay NORF tier.
@@pfftnuffinpersonalkid1541 true rents has gone up significally now even outside of the capital, so if you have a job either in London or elsewhere you will struggle financially regardless. I still believe away of London you can save more in some cases. It all depends what job you do, what's the demand and what you want.
I think a huge issue in Britain is we are now relying on very old and often poorly built infrastructure ( take the RAAC built schools falling down or literally anything built in the 50s/60s ) as well as literally victorian built railway, housing, schools etc I think there needs to be a major investment push on modernising literally everything from the ground up. But this is in turn hindered by the uks archaic laws especially around planning... and then therell be another problem and it goes on and on and on. I have no confidence any political party will work this out at this point 🤷♂
Does feel like a big change in how things work here is needed. Our infrastructure is literally crumbling because it's too old now. And tbf, this is not a problem exclusive to the UK, but we were one of the first on a lot of these things like railways and haven't upgraded them properly since for the most part. China meanwhile was basically undeveloped up until about 20 years ago, they were able to effectively skip the eras of steam trains and slow locomotives, jumping straight to High Speed rail. Maybe in 40 years time the problem will rotate to China where the next growth region (probably Africa) has brand new ultra high speed rail (or something idk) and China's high speed is now crumbling.
The government clearly hasn't learned yet either as the first batch of money "saved" by cancelling the northern leg of HS2 has been allocated to fixing roads around London. That's right, the money "saved" to fund other northern rail projects has been spent on London £260m of it.
I mean, we gave billions to the Government to build the UK's 2nd high speed rail line to connect London with other major cities like Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham etc. and they've just cancelled 50% of it. The UK parliament don't have a clue what they're doing and it's literally causing issues for themselves, and the tax paying Brit
@@Wozza365 another difference though is our old infrastructure was built was long term lifespan in mind. Thank goodness the sewers have been oversized for future growth etc. China builds new and fast but not quality so it all falls apart after a few years (search up Tofu Dreg)
And just as we are starting to build modern transport infrastructure, along comes a City spiv, (Sunak) who cancels the project (HS2). City spiv ? Yes, first at Goldman Sachs, (aka Gold in Sacks), then a hedge funder. MP only since 2015 and thinks he knows the art of politics, and is now prime minister. We really are doomed !
Economies heavily reliant on a single industry, such as finance in the UK, oil in Venezuela, and tourism in Spain, will always be prone to instability and vulnerability to global market changes.
In the UK, post-Brexit, this problem of over-reliance is often overshadowed in media discourse by a focus on low-skilled migrants, ignoring the critical need for economic diversification and the reluctance of high-skilled migrants to relocate there.
Neither the Conservative nor Labour parties have adequately addressed this diversification issue. The UK government’s move from an Industrial Strategy to a new Plan for Growth post-Brexit raises further doubts about their commitment to a diversified economic future.
this is the truth. finance is favoured, foreign money is favoured, and both of these are favoured in london.
What scope is there for industrial diversification though? And the mass migration issue is quite important as it only lowers living standards long term.
The UK has potential to make lots of money off oil and natural gasses however the net zero push stops that.
@@NikauPalmCalHonestly, both the Tories and Labour seem pretty lukewarm when it comes to fighting climate change. The Cons delayed net-zero deadline and Labour cut back on their pledge for green investment? Doesn't look like either is all in on tackling the climate crisis.
@@omardub15 Nor are they profiting
As a Brit, agreed. We’re not doing too well
Nobody bashes on the UK more than Brits which is healthy for society. Its better to be a redpilled citizen than to bootlick the politicians in charge.
We are fucked. Next stop: Argentina
@@joemq They're f***** as well. More so than we are. Choose your next destination wisely.
@@joemq Argentina is a good comparison as the only country that un-developed (yet).
As a non-brit who has a lot of respect and love for all of you guys I'd still like to say that it's very positive that most brits are saying this right now. In the end, these problems are all self inflicted and solvable. Don't get to pessimistic, but also stay mad because you have every right to be. Any other similar country going through the same things would be way worse off, imagine a french brexit
London has been toxic to the average Brit for centuries. We're seeing more devolution now but it's almost too little too late. I'm from Birmingham, what was once an international city. A little known fact was that the UK Government, concerned about the size and success of Birmingham, introduced the Distribution of Industry Act and something called the ‘Brown Ban,’ attempted to shift industrial and office activity away from the city to other parts of the country. My city suffered. Business relocated and London swallowed everything. It's a real shame.
Yes Birmingham was forced to give its industry to Northern cities like Manchester. It was criminal what was done to Brum. Birmingham and the Midlands is the most neglected part of the country considering what it gives and has given to the country.
But Birmingham is two-thirds first generation immigrants, it's as international as it gets!
@@hbsblkk3842 No, that would be Newcastle and Sunderland.
@@F--B i’m talking pound for pound. For the size of Birmingham and for how much it brings in it definitely gets the short end of the stick when it comes to funding.
The thing is, London is so absurdly expensive that few Londoners even get to enjoy the extra money.
I thought most London born people now lived elsewhere anyway, Luton, Milton Keynes and all over Essex!
That happened in the 60s and 70s.
You're not a cockney if your parents grew up in Basildon and you did too.
I am a citizen of Bristol in the West of the nation. I am a middle class person. Despite being middle class we can barely afford much compared to earlier on in my life. And I honestly don't know how families get by even when they are already starving to survive.
I’m a long time fan of your content I must say as an economics channel, advertising an investment platforms rubs me slightly the wrong way
The people behind this channel probably aren't even certified economists. These types of channels with unreliable sources are abundant. What did you expect?
People running you tube channels need to monetise somehow. So for me promotions are fair enough.
I was shocked to see the sad state of healthcare and infrastructure in UK compared to rich mainland European countries.
Assume this is a joke 🤣🤣🤣
As an NHS doctor I can tell you it is no joke
No, but you are.
@sallysloman1742 if you're going to be a troll at least try not to be so obvious about it
@@hughwebb1712 so I nolonger have a right to an opinion?
Austerity has been a disaster for the UK. It is a short sighted policy that has accelerated wealth concentration and yet ppl continually vote conservative outside of the London and south regions.
Idk why you're making it seem like the North vote votes conservative and the South doesn't. Its much more an urban - rural split; big cities don't vote conservative while rural England/Wales does. That doesn't even take Scotland and NI into account who are northern and not tory
Austerity in of itself isn't bad but when not used to benefit the country can hurt it.
@@rgqwerty63 I think the point being made is that the conservatives are concentrating wealth in the south so it's expected they will vote tory.
@@AYTM1200 Not sure about that tbh, there was quite a contrast after the GFC. The EU/UK tightened its belt and generally pursued austerity. Whereas the US went for a $800 billion fiscal stimulus (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009). UK's economy has grown 23% since 2010 and the US's economy has grown by 69% since 2010. The fact is that austerity and a lack of investment has lead to stagnation for economies in Europe.
@@AxolotlFrieze I don't disagree but we can't just say cause there's an increase in GDP that the country is doing better.
A lack of investment as you mentioned is more of the issue than austerity itself.
Under David Cameron the cuts under the austerity programme weren't used to createore jobs or on capital expenditure but on hiring "experts" to fix the financial mess. Of course they didn't.
Cutting down on expenditure isn't inherently bad but if it's not used to help the every day brit it'll do more harm than good.
The U.S has a luxury that no other country has which is exportimg inflation around the world so this idea wouldn't be so good in the U.K. because inflation may be even worse.
You should probably mention the little economic boom going on in Manchester. The city is now full of shiny new skyscrapers with many more under construction. Hopefully it can become a regional powerhouse and help with the north south divide.
Unfortunately for Manchester and because of HS2 terminating in Birmingham it will be Birmingham which will continue to boom. It's sucking investments in from the South East and around the world because of it. The population is already rising as people from the South East buy homes in the metro area because the commute will be so short. I'm sure Manchester will continue to be a regional hub for the North West but it won't progress much further than that sadly.
@@vespa81 I disagree; looking at the amount of construction work currently taking place and what is in the pipe line I definitely can see Manchester overtaking Birmingham.
Birmingham Central has been a construction site for decades, its in a constant state of renewal. Birminghams GDP has always been higher than Manchester and is predicted to keep on rising. Manchesters location in the North is a major problem for its growth, it's too far away from London & that isn't going to change.
It's all for show, the normal people living here are just as fucked as anyone else on this miserable island.
@@vespa81 Manchester is much more desirable for national and international economics. It's better connected to the world, and it's the most popular UK hub outside of London for pretty much everything. Birmingham unfortunately has developed a bad rep over the decades. Manchester in ten years will be the Frankfurt of the UK - a declined powerful city with a lot of new investment and modernized architecture.
HS2 won't truly affect anything, Manchester and London are probably the best connected major UK cities already and is the busiest rail and domestic flight route in the country, with also Manchester being the largest UK airport outside of London.
I am a UK citizen of the last 45 years, residing in the West Midlands, approximately two hours north of London. The harsh reality of the past 30 years in this country is marked by poor governance. Former British Prime Ministers drastically reduced public services during austerity, adversely impacting sectors like health, police, education, and recreation. The aftermath of Brexit compounded these challenges. Recently, rampant inflation has led to a 5.25% interest rate, exacerbating the growing wealth gap. One of the most significant threats to the UK and the wider world is inequality, which is escalating rapidly. With a general election next year, the likelihood of the Conservatives being voted out and Labour taking over is high. However, this change may not necessarily be for the better. Many individuals are leaving, and the government's failure to construct houses, coupled with impractical planning laws, adds to the frustration. Illegal migration persists, with arriving boats placing immigrants in hotels funded by British taxpayers. The situation has left the British people fed up.
It won't be for the better. Every politician in the House of Commons is as interchangable as they are clueless. Sure they run their mouths and get into arguments about different beliefs, but their actions suggest otherwise.
Aw mate, you were doing so well until you veered off about illegal immigrants which basically have an almost negligible effect on the economy compared to everything else. The £8k a year difference between UK and German households is almost entirely down to economic mismanagement and short termism.
@@davidcoveneyit apparently costs 10k per immigrant (illegal or otherwise) to process. Plus paying food/board/spending money for frankly a lot of people is not ideal. Especially when there's a lot of native homeless people already who I personally would rather than money was spent on.
Immigration is not the centre of the issues but it's still a point of waste by a government who cuts corners on other people in need
Labours new Housing policy is to build "Georgian Houses" which, of course, means, none at all. Don't even have enough Tradespeople to build apartments, yet going to pull all these 19th century Stonemasons out of the past into the modern day to build houses. Absolutely wild the joke politics in the UK is and the saddest part is the only leader who took it seriously, Corbyn, was smeared to death by the Pro-CoL establishment and Israel.
Wrong Prime Minister, austerity was enacted by Cameron and Osborne. May was Home Secretary during those years.
Estonia is basically the exact same - Tallinn & Harju county live at the EU median, rest of the country at ~70% of said median.
Same in Lithuania cities Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipeda
But still Estonia is growing fast overall, I think?
Riga agglomeration generates smth like 70% of Latvia's GDP, also most of Latvia's population lives there.
Yes, except Estonia is rapidly improving. It has the best governance in the European Union. The UK is going downhill fast
This is typical of all post Soviet countries. Russians outside Moscow earn near nothing.
We do need to start building up other big cities around the UK, concentrating on just London isnt good. We need to spread this out across the country. Especially in a world where things can be done online etc you dont have to be in London to work with/In London.
there is no mobilisation of rural population to urban unlike in developing countries any new city or infrastructure will be a pressure to economy which will encourage politicians to allow immigrants. more peacefulls.
They are called economical hubs…and yes that’s what would be good. For example in the Netherlands we have multiple hubs. Logistics is in the south (Brabant), financial in Amsterdam, medical around Nijmegen, agri around Wageningen and industry around Eindhoven. The universities are usually close to the hub. Doesn’t the Uk have such similar hubs?
@@dcbaars Nah, in fact if you take London off the table, the average UK citizen will be similar to someone from Mississippi (the poorest state in USA)
@@rajeevd972 They have dying towns which they should encourage people to move to the cities.
Well we have Manchester and Birmingham
Manchester is getting somewhere and Birmingham has some way to go
Then it's up to the devolved administration to make up their minds what to with Edinburgh Cardiff and Glasgow
It feels in the UK that the cost of living is raising and the wages feel lower.
Because real wages have absolutely collapsed over the last 30 years
@@EnterTheSoundscape
If you care about having the last Iphone or travelling through the whole world yes….
Or you just had to study harder maybe
@@IsseKonja What has any of that got to do with the UK’s lagging economy and wage stagnation? You can “study harder” all you want but it won’t give you competitive wages compared to opportunities abroad.
For optimism on the UK economy: Third in AI after USA and China, second in quantum computing after the USA, more tech unicorns and more tech start-ups than any other country in Europe. Given these are generally understood to be the future of the 21st and 22nd century economies, I argue there is more scope for optimism than the video suggests.
None of those oh so fancy shmancy techbro industry circlejerks have any effect on putting food on the table.
I disagree but I like how you said it.@@Blackgriffonphoenixg
@@Blackgriffonphoenixg They create jobs which puts food on those families tables. It creates tax revenue to fund the NHS and schools. Be a bit more open minded and less intolerant, the "circle jerks" as you call them are also human beings just like you.
They don’t benefit normal people that’s the problem.
The tax system is fucked
@@Blackgriffonphoenixg Imagine saying this in the 90s 'oh that Microsoft and Apple, those are just techbro startups, it's not like they'll ever employ anyone'
It would be very interesting to see a deep dive in the ERM aspect o this story that you touched upon in this video. If the fiscal policy of Germany was so disastrous for the other ERM members, why were there no checks to prevent Germany from enacting this policy? And did the other ERM members suffer in the same way? It seems odd that the UK needed to match the Reichsmark, but that there was somehow no action required by the Germans to stay within a reasonable range with the Pound through their fiscal policy. in essence, did the UK just join a bad financial relastionship, or was it their own bad polciy that made it turn out even worse?
I think this is close to the brexit type of sovereignty - which is something afforded to the UK but not to others. " no action required by the Germans to stay within a reasonable range with the Pound" Why was there no action required by the english to stay in reasonable range of the DM?
@@benjaminmaas4108 Huh?
"The pressure on the Finnish Markka was so strong that it abandoned its peg with the ECU. Italy raised its interest rates, but still the lira weakened repeatedly. The Bundesbank did not cut its interest rates enough and speculation continued. The pressures on both lira and sterling became so large, that both were suspended from the ERM (and depreciated rapidly afterwards). The foreign exchange markets remained disturbed for the rest of the year, with a renewed outbreak of speculative pressures leading to the abandonment of Sweden's peg to the ECU, devaluation of both the Portuguese escudo and the Spanish peseta in November and the abandonment of Norway's ECU-peg in December. In January 1993, Ireland witnessed pressure (mostly because of the loss of competitiveness vis-à-vis the UK, that devalued in September 1992) and finally devalued by 10%."
www.tcd.ie/Economics/assets/pdf/SER/1996/Moniel_Wolters.html
Deutsche Mark, the Reichsmark was abolished long ago.
@@benjaminmaas4108 Why was there no action required by the english to stay in reasonable range of the DM? The BoE did act though
It's a crisis of poverty for working people, not a crisis of confidence.
I live near London, I can say you've hit the nail on the head. Although I think our biggest issues are corruption and confidence in the government, a lack of goverment investment across the board has seen, young people drop out from society and would rather get signed off work, rightfully so. For the poor education, job opportunities, poor quality of living standards. An awful lot of people I know are moving abroad, it's sad. Seeing the country you knew as a child, dissappear and for friends struggling to move out, or find work, without the expensive commute to London and the long days that many people take as standard. It's baffling, that this country is still going.
Almost everyone I know in tech plans to move aboard too. Some companies have policies which allow you to transfer to US teams after a year, so everyone is eager to get an offer at one of those
A great advantage is the tech emigrants’ native fluency in English and their wry can-do attitude, both of which are valued on tech teams.
I grew up in western Canada and moved to London for a job a few years back, the biggest culture shock for me was just seeing the complete non existence of social mobility. in this country as compared to where i was from. On top of all the other listed reasons mentioned in the video, the constant strikes (in every industry) and obvious crumbling infostructure really gives the everyday feeling your living in a country in decline. Its really weird....
Indians are now leaving Canada because the influx has caused housing problems 😂but I agree, London stinks.
What are you talking about, Britain was in ' decline ' in the 70's ,had a recession in the early 90's , in '08 and a very slow ( albeit better than a lot of EU) recovery all the way up to COVID.why are you suddenly talking about 'decline' 😅, it's been muddling along my whole life.
@@jdlc903 We've never bounced back from 08' and there was no bounce back from COVID either. There is no way our for our country. We've got years more of this to come and it's only going to get more difficult.
Constant strikes? Can barely remember the last strike
@@BenSamuel-d6lErr are you living under a rock? Nurses, Doctors, Train Drivers, strikes are in great health
I genuinely think an important point worth mentioning is that the UK Governments other non-economic policies are also driving talented British professionals away. For example the recent changes to family visa income thresholds which push many families out of the price range for being able to marry a non-britsh spouse and move them to the UK, instead leading them to move to where their partner is from. At this point it is looking easier for me to get an American greencard via my fiancee than her getting a family visa for the UK.
Brilliant point
Fyi I saw a headline yesterday saying that policy was possibly being abandoned. Not sure if it will be though. Hope your move goes well whatever happens
The problem with that was the amount of people from India, Pakistani and other south asian countries using it as a way to permanently move to England. A lot of these family members don't speak English and don't integrate. Just look at a company called BooHoo- they set up a sweat shop in England. Hardly any of them spoke English and were therefore easy to take advantage of.
@@richardfothergill8090 source: "trust me bro"
You have to wonder what sort of political climate we have when someone can make a policy so suicidally bad and yet doesn't spark immediate demands for resignation
Its easy. All she needs to do is become a carer and come in on the skilled worker visa.
All of this was known many decades ago. Thatcher was explicitly warned about the consequences of both her union busting and concentration on centralising the economy in London over all other regions. These are the consequences.
Unfortunately for you Brits, Thatcher was as dumb as Ronald Reagan for believing in Trickledown "economics"... our countries share a very similar 40+ year long economic journey.
The unions absolutely destroyed British manufacturing, which in turn tanked the economies of the north and midlands.
Blame Thatcher all you want, she just turned off the life support. The unions dealt the killing blow long before.
The balance was too much union power in the 70s, too little after Thatcher.
@@aclark903 Although, as we now know, union leadership was completely and utterly infiltrated by the state - in order to set them up for a fall. It's a pity so little attention is paid to the period.
Also, the 1950s and 1960s were the "golden age" the US. Why? Because unions were strong and powerful. The working class had power and wealth. The capitalists stole that from us with the help of Reagan and Thatcher.
The one sentence that is in every history book since 1918
"......but the UK was broke at the time"
Is your point to suggest that we always end up muddling through?
You work for 40yrs to have $1m in your retirement, Meanwhile some people are putting just $10k in a meme coin for just few months and now they are multi millionaires. I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life
Our enlightened governments only strategy seems to be 'More People = More GDP', regardless on the impact on jobs, wage growth, housing, goods & public services. Meanwhile taxes rise, energy policy pushes energy prices up and a failure to manoeuvre on the world stage pushes food up. With no hope in sight as the next government to be supports all the policies that put us in this mess, the sensation of 'drowning' comes to mind..
If you want a country to be wealthy, you need to make the people wealthy and they are doing a fine job of achieving the opposite.
A great video on how governments and economists destroy economies, by artificially manipulating values, is very interesting.
This is pretty standard operating procedure, and it is happening all over the world, not just the UK.
All heavy industry was ended from Thatcher to Blair, thus rendering the country defunct for the vast majority to survive. This is reflected in the dire birth rates and the disproportionate importation of non European people.
@user-vx9tn3iz4n Telavivistan more likely
The UK is just a middle income country with a few rich rentiers.
I like this pertinent comment
Would be interesting to see a video that ranks all of the European countries by economical performance, potential, proboems.
My money is on Poland for Eastern Europe. It's the best performing country in Eastern Europe.
Ireland is the best in Western Europe.
Switzerland is the best in Central Europe.
Norway is obviously the best in Northern Europe.
Southern Europe overall isn't having a great time.
@@FictionHubZAIreland's data is just as misleading as Britain's.
The former head of their central bank said as much too.
@@FictionHubZA Ireland is basically just a tax heaven, that's why it's so rich in the statistics. A great country for companies, not for citizens
Ireland is fucked. They cant even rent a house@@FictionHubZA
@@cristicristi6500 According to this channel Ireland isn't a tax haven and that wasn't the main reason for their growth either. Maybe look to this video on their neighbour and largest competitor for some other reasons xD
An issue thats always overlooked when looking at the UK is how incredibly centralised our government is. We elect 650 MPs, with the vast majority being English, and most of them coming from the more populated south east and London. Literally every single decision in the UK (apart from some small areas of legislation in Scotland and Wales and sometimes Northern Ireland) has to be made in Parliament. Like, if leeds wants to build a tram, it has to be passed as an act of Parliament, etc. that means that Parliament wastes a huge amount of time on irrelevant things, and it means that far less of these projects actually ever get done which means that for the vast majority of the country everything has been stagnant since the start of austerity. Whilst centralised power is what the mega rich wants and benefit from, it has absolutely shafted the country for decades, especially now that unions and whatnot have no power, so literally all power is in corporations and parliament.
Things are almost never as simple as to lead it back to one reason but in the UK's case if the country would regulate its residential real-estate sector and kicked out all the airbnbs, absentee landlords and limited how many homes one can own in a given part of the country and severely restricted companies' ability to own residential homes, young people would have the ability to buy a home and realize some equity with the added benefit of feeling that their lives aren't pointless filling the pockets of a landlord overseas who owns the house they live in.
This one thing: protect the local person's ability to own their place before investors buy up everything would have immense ripple effects and would improve the productivity of the country that currently suffers from landlords milking the average Joe's wallet every month that in turn can not start a business, can not buy goods and services, and who can't even put insulation on their home because it simply costed too much to acquire in the first place because of investors that they can no longer afford to update it so instead loses precious energy and in-turn money spent on that wasted energy putting most people on a poverty spiral.
You didn't mention immigration/deportation.
Buy-to-Let is a cancer which is destroying the UK housing sector. A sector which was already ravaged from Right-to-Buy 35 years ago. No person should be allowed to hoard housing for profit when others want to buy their own - assets that those hoarders expect hard-working people to pay off while they sit back and have someone collect rent on their behalf.
Also the let properties are not maintained properly as the owner landlords want to maximise the cash cow and this has led to a swathe of sub standard properties and a more depressing environment.
What you are proposing is a pipedream. The UK's success has and will always be predicated off someone else's misfortune, and the profits will be calculated as close to the national and international market will allow. Regulation will be met with people lobbying for removing regulation or exploiting loopholes in regulations.
Well Canada did it, in particular: British Columbia.
When your economy is geared to make sure the investment class get most of the benefits of the economy, your citizens suffer, while your nation declines. The investment class must take care of the nation that protects their assets. It is time to tax the investment class, they receive to many tax breaks.
Maybe one day the UK government will remember there’s more to the UK than just London… huge potential of the north and midlands major cities who just get forgotten about
that's becaus of the bombings as far as I'm aware of
@@aurelianspodarec2629 what?
google it : p theres a big history on northen emgland@@qualitycroissant8527
The country has spent the past 30 years funneling money northwards. It hasn't worked.
@@willbentley8856 what have you been sniffing 😂😂Leeds is the biggest city in Europe without a mass transit system, which part of the funnel is that money coming from? Typical southerner reply
10:34 not sure how you can say the UK is failing in education when it's climbing up world rankings, or that it's bad at technology when it's only one of three tech markets in the world valued at >$1tn
British teachers have a done a great job despite so many cuts, fully funded education will see Britain rise. Even immigrants have done very well in British schools this is very rare to see for first generation in other European countries
Are you just gonna pretend the avg IQ of London hasn't been falling for decades ?
The UK isn't though it's at an embarrassing 14th place! and losing to countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea.
All countries where the best educated in the highest paying industries will emigrate to.
It's brain drain just like Italy loses their best to Germany, France and the Netherlands the UK is losing it's best to other English speaking countries.
You have to remember that these people will emigrate to earn the big bucks then move back to the UK in retirement for the free NHS that they haven't contributed to by working abroad for 30-40 years.
Because for every fact there's a bunch of pessimistic naysaying done by The Guardian and its readers which reinforces a negative feedback loop
@@Ushio01 14th place isn't embarassing at all. And I never said the UK was top of the list, I said it was RISING. In other words, climbing in rank year on year. How was that so hard to understand? Basic reading comprehension beyond your grasp?
It’s worth noting London dominates the U.K. economy but it isn’t where all the innovation takes place. From Glasgow satellite manufacturing to Manchester materials, Teeside hydrogen and Liverpool life sciences, alongside as many as 25 other globally recognised hubs around the UK - we have world class R&D. Including world class universities, like Oxford and Cambridge. Innovation is one of Britains strengths but excessive bureaucracy and problems with our greatest innovators accessing funding/investment is some of the biggest hurdles to overcome.
Doing the Hokey cokey with Horizon Europe sure helped us there...
Russian oligarchs laundering money in London is how London is still doing well while the rest of the country is declaring bankruptcy
What i feel personally that makes people in the UK less and less well off and less able to spent is that income tax, other national tax, and especially local council taxes and fees and licences and fines are way way too high and have been always rising in the last decade. While wages, which are low, remaimed low, and never seemed to rise at all. Rent is ridiculous compared to 20 years ago too.
Don't forget VAT, an EU invention that the gov is oh so willing to keep at 20%, so they finally got their poor tax it seems.
The good thing is that people are talking about the economic problems in the UK. Hopefully there will be some political change and some smart and hard working people to help solve the problems.
Well then we best not rely on Politicians then in the UK.
My admittedly cynical view is that unfortunately political parties want people who can talk the talk, not necessarily walk the walk
@@thomasmahoney4991 Aye, politicians don't really solve problems they are just playing a popularity contest, appeasing people in the media and taking credit. Scientists, engineers, teachers etc are responsible for most of the benefits to humanity.
you poor cynical thing @@user-dy9dz4zy8o
I grew up in the UK and the majority of the people I know (including myself) are desperate to leave.
I'll marry you to get a greencard 😂
@@gaychinee let’s goooo
@@selinclayton now I just need your credit/debit card numbers, bank information, billing address, and phone number and we're all set.
Yup. Most of the country looks like Islamabad already, so it's not like there's even much to leave behind. The Britain I knew as a child, the unique and distinctive culture and nation: has been totally destroyed.
Send ALL attractive and physically fit females to Florida. We will exchange them, one-for-one for Amerihogs with several tattoos and pierced nostrils.
Brit' here - In the last 15 years I've never had a pay rise which is greater than the rate of inflation (and I work "OK" jobs)...
The UK is suffering a massive immigration crisis. 10 million more people in less than 30 years. And these people are not highly skilled workers.
The UK have a skills shortage because generations of native Brits have grown accustomed to doing nothing and living on benefits, being a burden on taxpayers. The social system created a huge social problem.
Then you have people living in the past who oppose every regional investment in the UK. The farcical situation of the HS2 railway says it all.
You miss out the fact that the UK's industrial sector was deliberately dismantled by successive governments starting with Thatcher. Nobody has become accustomed to living on benefits by choice. Entirely by design.
Well said. I don’t think a lot of Brits understand the ridiculous amount of money being spent on the welfare state. What was designed to be a safety net for vulnerable people/ times has been exploited and inadvertently resulted in incentivising welfare as a lifestyle.
I left the UK in 2012 because despite being as highly trained as I could be to work as a journalist, finding a job in the UK was impossible. I walked straight into jobs in New Zealand and now I work in corporate communications and I've never looked back.
The other big issue for the UK economy since 2010 has been austerity. Some of the deepest cuts in public spending in British history have been made in the last decade, stifling the few green shoots of growth that were emerging post 2008 GFC. These spending cuts have been felt most acutely in the regions, where Local Goverbment provision and contracts are a big driver of economic growth. With many Local Authorities having had their budgets cut by as much as half, resulting in significant job losses and all but the most essential services cut, the economy in the regions has taken an absolute battering. Plus recent political decisions and the country's appalling handling of COVID, plus Brexit has only made things worse.
Maybe you couldn’t get a job in the U.K. because you’re not very good at interviewing or worth hiring … New Zealand is known to be pretty desperate and will take anyone on so not surprising you got a job there. In the U.K. they look for quality workers.
@@apangel100 Is that really the best you can do? Surely you can be more insulting than that!!
@@apangel100 No, in the UK it's extremely neoptistic. The good entry level jobs go to people in the know. The irony is that these are people who have been spoon fed and are largely rubbish. Hence the downturn of everything.
Things must have been bad to move to New Zealand
@@Secretlyanothername How so?
Would LOVE to see a video on Chile, its relative stability when comparing to the rest of Latam, its current political turmoil since 2019, and the potential to become a global player in the green economy, being a global leader in key markets, like copper, lithium, and potentially green hydrogen...
10:26 very much suffering from success. i've worked with utility companies (water) before and its known that they lack behind peers in countries like Germany because the UK's infrastrure was made in the 1800s, whereas Germany's by comparison was bombed and destoryed then redeveloped in a more modern era.
I'm not sure that the Britain's problems began in 1992. Britain had to call in the IMF in 1976 and between 1931 and 1976 there was at least one currency crisis a decade. Relative decline probably began around 1850 but there has been real decline in Britain's standing since WWI. Ironically the wealth inequality and regional divide was a feature even in the country's heyday, and our Etonian rulers wouldn't have it any other way.
I now live in greater London, albeit very far from the centre, and I am always taken aback when I pay a visit home, to Stoke-on-Trent by how increasingly dire things are there. However, there are little 'hot spots' outside of London Manchester, which is rather impressive. I the UK has three big problems. Intergenerational disparity of wealth (Boomers v. Everybody else). Secondly, the breakdown of national infersyructure. It's owned and run by private companies, so neither they nor the government have an interest in maintaining it. Finally, Brexit. Not only all its negative results but also how utterly divided it has left the country.
I think Stoke on Trent is one of the poorest/deprived areas In the U.K though. I remember being quite shocked by the place in the late 1990s on my way to job interviews in Manchester. I completely agree with your other points of view.
Amazingly its gotten worse in Stoke since the late 90s. Really no industry anymore, the internet killed most retail. But the 'richer' bits now look like they're in the third world and the poor bits like a war zoon.@mattcrispin6737
I’ve been to stoke on Trent. I think the place I’m in currently is better…and I’m in Cambodia right now.
Oh yikes!! The Gary, Indiana of the U.K maybe. Let's hope things get turned around. The wandering Turnip did an interesting video on Stoke recently@@ganrimmonim
I think your looking at inter generational wealth the wrong. Its all about housing we don't have enough of it regardless of boomers having homes
Black Monday seems a bit arbitrary as a line in the sand given that the Pound had lost about as much value from the 1967 Sterling crisis to Black Monday as it has now lost since Black Monday. And unlike the economically turbulent period that followed the 1967 crisis, things really turned around for the UK after Black Monday until the GFC, austerity, and Brexit started eating away at all those gains.
was post BM thru to austerity just a 'blip' though?
I really squinted when he said that. I thought of the GFC and Brexit immediately.
@@br5380 if it was then the long term challenges took hold well before Black Monday, which is my conclusion. The UK had two messy devaluations and even sought an IMF bailout in the decades leading up to Black Monday. And the most acute phase of deindustrialization also preceded Black Monday.
it's black wednesday
@@xandervlassenbroeck5222missed that, all I remember was that I was working in France and found out when I rang my wife that evening, based on the 'news' our mortgage was now more than I earned.
Those disposable income numbers at 1:20 are highly misleading.
The official definition of disposable income is what we all call gross income and doesn't include rent, mortgage or any living costs and so of course it's going to be much higher in London because all those other costs are also far higher.
A better metric is discretionary income (adjusted for mortgage payments which are usually investments) which is what's left after paying out all the unavoidable legal and living costs, inc rent etc.
From watching Clarkson's Farm, I don't understand how any individual in England doesn't just throw their hands up and give up trying to own and operate their own businesses. The amount of frivolous regulation and local council meddling is at Monty Python levels of absurdity.
Clarkson moved to an area of outstanding natural beauty where the landscape is famed for its lack of development and bucolic scenes. He moved in and tried to develop one thing after another, he's a nonce. The Cotswolds is not the place to run a retail farming empire, he could easily achieve that in Lincolnshire, East Anglia, East Midlands, so many places that aren't protected. If every farmer did this the area would be an over developed mess, and another beautiful piece of Merry England becomes a grey morass, ruined by intensive agriculture.
@@LeHosko "ruined by intensive agriculture" Really??? What about food? You don't like food? Want to depend on other countries for imports? UK has VAST areas of national parks, the majority of the UK is wilderness overall, most of the population are concentrated in a rather small area.
You watched a show designed for entertainment and made a judgement of UK regulation based on it - probably not the wisest choice.
Our rights to do what we wanted on land we owned were given away in 1947 without much fanfare. Individuals (like albert dryden) have fought but the nimbys still rule
"i WaTcHeD a Tv pRoGrAmMe aNd nOw i hAvE aN oPiNiOn."
This has been a great video. As a Brit, thank you for the informative coverage.
Let's maybe not use the North-South divide viewpoint so loosely. Remember that the other major cities/towns throughout Southern England - Bristol, Southampton, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Luton - have also been financially and economically neglected. Cornwall is one of the poorest regions in Europe and it's the most southern region of the country
Bristol does alright economically but can’t believe it doesn’t have a mass transit system of some sort - not even trams! Even little old Cardiff across the water has trams coming
This was one of the clearest videos you’ve made, and for once it didn’t go too fast. Brilliant! But I wished you’d said more about regional inequality.
It's honestly really worrying what's happening to their economy. I have a few friends that live in the UK and it sucks, they know what's coming and can't really do much about it either, and stuff's already crazy expensive apparently.
Brit here - it's getting to be a joke. A lot of rich people just getting greedy. The tax system is against middle earners so people don't progress. Government's just look for short term solutions and blame everything on immigration.
Those of us who can join the dots seem to be either leaving or quietly prepping as fast as possible
too bad both of those options cost money that most of us don't have@@ohnoitisnt
Living in north east England and can agree with the user above me. It was real bad in 2020 and half of 2021. But since last year everything is basically back to normal. We have crazy discounts all year round. Haven’t spent any crazy money on grocery, bills and etc. Speaking as an immigrant who constantly travels, moves and eats out a lot. I have friends in Germany and France and they’re having hard time keeping up with the increasing rates of rent and food prices going up.
@@BrockSamson-i1i A lot of things have increased by over 25% not to mention energy that is over double of what it was in 2020, the price is also going up in January. for some reason.... And really prices don't really go back down.... i mean why would they
UK needs more diversification of how they run things. In a country like USA, California provides social programs due to high taxes but there are also states like Texas that offer no income tax and cheap housing if a person wants to leave.
If you watch RUclips ever country is in trouble and about to die economically.
I read the Richard Morgan book Market Forces earlier this year. It depicts a near future Britain where the financial industry has taken over the government and anywhere outside of London is known as “The Zones”. Areas of lawless poverty where Executives are able to do whatever they like. Seemed like a well penned anti-conservative bit of paranoia but now….
UK is in doom cycle - terrible Administrations for the last 30 years and zero control over its southern border. However this video is simplistic. London in fact has huge challenges and arguably (or at least relatively) cities like Manchester and Bristol have had more impressive performance over the last 20 years. Still the central criticism that the UK’s population shift married with its over dependence on services and lack of smart government is driving it into the ground is pretty spot on.
Plenty of problems, but a relatively young and growing population, technologically driven, global and open society, safe place to keep money, common law and an acceptance that business drives growth and improvements in living standards. Which is to say, lots that Brittania's near neighbours and rivals are pitifully short of. Greetings from Spain.
Relatively young population?
Are you sure about that?' You might want to look into it again.
young and growing population - Dont have that.
global and open society - Bad thing.
safe place to keep money - Doesnt really help us.
common law - which has some utterly mental things
an acceptance that business drives growth - Yet its awful to run a business in the UK
improvements in living standards - stagnant for years.
Their demographic is a bit better than us in older countries of the eu but their councils are still spending ~70% on social care, some of the things you mention is why almost everything is in centered around london, they aren´t open nowadays but thats something increasing in most european countries, better for bussiness benefits london, their living standards aren´t better than in my country imo but wages are higher, food is cheap tho.
Uk population is ageing and birth rates are low meanwhile Living standards are declining for many people, increasing poverty etc. you don’t know what you’re talking about
Our population is growing because of staggering immigration - which is utterly destroying the character of the country, making housing unaffordable, overloading our public services and creating huge social divisions and conflicts.
If there's one thing the UK desperately needs, it's to return immigration to 1990s levels: and start being a LOT pickier about who we let in.
The loss of skilled people and the gain of unskilled, and in many cases unskillable people*, is a disaster for Britain.
*illiterate, in terms of language, technical ability and cultural and social conformity. This effects the economy is so many ways. Apart from doing simple repetitive jobs most of these imports are just a drain on the state.
I just read an article called "Is the UK Becoming A Third World" Country in The Luxury Playbook that says exactly what you describe and goes even more in depth. Unfortunately we are doomed.
Please do Canada next! We’re getting screwed over here.
I definitely want to see some analysis on how we're actually comparing to the rest of the world. Obviously, there are a lot of complaints regarding particularly food and housing prices - but how much (if any) worse is it here compared to the rest of the (developed) world
Canada has similar challenges, but compared to the UK, and many other countries around the world, it's doing quite well. There's an internal perception that the sky is falling, but it really isn't.
It's the same global plan.
US
CANADA
UK
AUS
It's a globalist plan to collapse all economies. US and Canada will go first, Agentina already gone. Europe will follow then we will enter full depression.
Im not doom and gloom i just paid attention. Pray More.
It's more tied in to Americas Economy rather than Europes stagnant Economy. My brother just moved there, prices are silly, but there's still more opportunity than the UK.
I have honestly only heard bad things about Canada the past few years. It's really hard to find a Canadian who is happy with the nation atm. But Americans for example seem to still think it's better off than what they got. But then I see comments saying Canadians are moving to the US or Mexico. So I'm not really sure. But just in a general sense Canada not doing to good I think.
I'd like to know which country's economy is NOT in trouble.
Norway
Ireland
Ireland is tax haven@@fricatus
The whole developed world has too much debt and too few babies: that's the bottom line.
Norway is going great
Doesn’t help when we are letting in loads of Randoms and they are just living off the already broken system
UK is London
just like Japan is Tokyo and South Korea is Seoul
I think Tokyo holds like 30 million people. But there are some major cities in Japan that help it look more balanced than the UK with only the one major economic center. I don't really know much about SK cities. I think Busan is big?
Not really the Osaka region is more wealthy than the regions in the UK.
japan has more significant regions other than tokyo
France is Paris, Germany is Berlin, Spain is Madrid, Italy is Rome, USA is New York etc. Hence why they are called Capital Cities. The most powerful one in the world is New York and is considered the hammer of the whole earth. It will, of course, be brought to its knees by the power of God himself. It’s not a matter of if, but when.
@@johnb6723 USA Capital City is WDC
NYC is economy hub of east Coast
Houston is economy hub of south coast
LA is economy hub of west coast
In the beginning of the video, you've colored the Faroe Islands as part of the UK. The Faroe Islands are actually part of the Kingdom of Denmark =)
Yes, far too much emphasis on the infrastructure of London to the detriment of the rest of the UK, rg hs2 to Leeds and Manchester which if completed would provide a faster and ecological method of freight distribution and also serve as anchors for further HS links to Northern England and Scotland
As a Mancunian, from northern England, this is slightly overblown and sensationalist.
We’ve taken a big economic hit from Covid like everyone has but this so called North-South divide is far less prominent than it was 30 years ago.
Manchester was horrendous in the 90s and it’s infinitely more prosperous now, with a lot more opportunity.
A lot of businesses are sick of London rates and are moving up north for a better deal, in this new WFH age.
I work in recruitment and have actually seen the north catching up post Covid.
Wait, are you saying that UK is not 3rd world apocalyptic hellscape where people are dying of hunger by millions?You must be kidding
@@Bebrou66 Ah, so you’re just being ignorant under this video for fun. Figures, from your other comments that couldn’t understand the difference between suburbs in Europe and North America . Please educate yourself about other countries. The U.K. is indeed none of the things you have just listed.
@@tamaracarter1836 that was sarcasm actually, I don't think that UK is bad, but it's definitely worst DEVELOPED nation.Worst of the best
@@Bebrou66 Well I don’t agree that it’s the worst in the west at all. Every western nation has its pros and cons, and many of the cons are basically the same if not worse in other western nations. Sadly the US consistently places last/ close to last in most categories outside of money, in the west. So that would easily be my choice, and that’s not to say the US is a “bad” country, just that we have a lot of flaws. But of course everyone is different and things like safety or healthcare may not be as important to them. I listed some in the other thread, for reasons why my life is better living in England.
Just because Manchester has built a few fancy skyscrapers, penthouse suites and fancy offices doesn't mean the gap is closing. Please come to Sheffield and tell me there isn't a north south divide. Manchester has seen massive investment over the past 10 years, we in Sheffield still don't even have a single electrified heavy rail line, something you've had since the 60's. Our only chance at getting the Midland mainline electrified is from HS2 being cancelled and even then it looks like we wont see the wires until 2030 at the earliest, that's of course it doesn't get cancelled AGAIN.
When is it not ? ever since 1945 when has it not been in trouble ?
Are you saying the country had problems when certain migrants came in from another country? Im pretty sure the British empire was on a decline before them
They lost their biggest cash cow in 1947.
@@chiquita683I think the point was that the UK has been in trouble since WW2
In the 60s things seemed fine. Even the 70s had a strong labour union.
There was a fair amount of trouble in the years leading up to 1945
This is all on top of the fact that Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are all looking at splitting from England. I think the disparity is pushing people to seperation of power from a very very centralised position in London.
They would all be worse off than we are now. Especially Wales.
I think our (I’m from the UK) government really needs to watch this video
Couldn’t agree more that we are over dependent on the London financial sector, and I work in it. Classic example of living regionally but moving to London to get a good job in finance (even though I find it boring), because we have very few other industries that offer a decent salary.
People are leaving the UK because of ethnic displacement. Might want to mention that too.
Except they ain't you absolute melt
So what developed nation is affordable to live in for those not earning $50k+ a year or the equivalent?
I'd say the Nordics
Developed nation? Virtually all non-African countries are now developed by the conventional metrics that define that word. Maybe you mean white-Anglo Saxon investor class country? Well, here in South Africa that money would make you a rich man, doubly so if your wife earns that too. Of course, you would have to put up with the crime and widening social decay.
Portugal, Spain and much of eastern Europe
Poland is quite affordable and has a decent standard of living.
What do you mean by "equivalent"? $50k a year is over 4000$ a month. That would allow you to live a luxurious life in Moscow
In the map on 6:15 Germany started expanding their territory again from Luxembourg.
hehe xD
With modern communications, the "grunts" of Civil Service Departments could be distributed throughout the UK Regions, helping to smooth out the income differences and, more importantly, their contribution to local economies. Local economies ARE the drivers of the national economy, a FACT frequently overlooked by the Metropolitan bubble mentality of our political masters.
The gradual redistribution of government services, not a sudden wholesale push, is required. A sudden, massive change would be as destabilising as the concentration of capital power has been.
it would be cool to get another video on the spanish economy. it has done quite well the last two years., and it would complement the italy and greece videos. Also, last time you forgot to put it in the economic leaderboards
Yeah everyone always says how bad pedro sanchez is but hes really helped spain
Amazing how much damage a single person like Rupert Murdoch can do to the West.
Yep, Rupert decided BREXIT was a good idea and had his media empire ensure it got through. Then there is the 2nd Gulf war, Trumpism etc....
Only because we allowed him to do so. Murdoch appeals to our worst instincts.
The issue with the UK is its prioritised the wrong industries, not invested in infrastructure and not build enough houses. The biggest issue underpinning then is the system itself. Local government is rife with obstructionist tendencies that prevent innovation, housing and infrastructure. While Westminster only cares about London and treasury doesn't want to pay for anything that doesn't make money in the short term. All colliding together to make the current mess
Not building enough houses lol, come to where I live the countryside is slowly being eaten away by endless new housing developments meanwhile no new schools etc are being built and we're losing GP surgeries, that's the problem, nothing being built to support the growing population.
Managed decline. Corporate fascists have shafted us for decades. Dangled carrots and given some of us sweets to placate us. The last time a reservoir was built in England was over 30 years ago.
Long term illness in old age is going to be a huge problem for the UK. You only have to come back to the UK from a few weeks overseas and people just look ill by comparison over here, and these are people in their 20s and 30s who should be fit and healthy. I wouldn’t be surprised if, because of the chronic underfunding of the NHS, the levels of undiagnosed illness is twice that of other developed nations.
I'm wondering how older people are going to pay rent as cost outstrips housing benefit.
Interesting video, However, Black Wednesday wasn’t really the start of economic uncertainty in Britain. In fact it’s colloquially called white Wednesday as it was the beginning of 16 years of economic expansion that lasted until 2008.
Why no mention of the 1976 Sterling crisis? This is a very important event in recent history of the UK economy in which the UK had to go begging to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout!