Only Italy and Greece
Italy and Greece are lovely places but it is fair to say that their economies are not renowned for their productivity.
Which is just as well for the UK’s ego, because it has managed to increase its productivity by more than Italy and Greece between 2010 and 2019; but only Italy and Greece.
The UK was third from the bottom, far from the rates achieved by similar economies including France and Germany; which are allegedly dragged down by EU and eurozone membership.
Behind those allegedly massively overtaxed countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Finland, behind the allegedly lazy Spain and Portugal and behind Ireland.
(I can’t think what the bigoted idiots claim is Ireland’s weakness, their strength is speaking English and staying in the EU. )
This is to put it nicely; disastrous. The UK needs a rapidly growing, more productive economy to raise living standards and the taxes necessary to pay for an increasingly older population.
At any other time this would be top of the agenda for any country, why is productivity and growth so low?
In the UK it doesn’t get much of a mention. In a few years time this period will be looked back on as a disaster for the long term prospects of the UK, but by then it will be too late.
Training, education, investment, infrastructure, energy and utility regulation, immigration and banking reform have all been either ignored or actively made worse by the Government. Why?
Because idealogical obsessions with austerity and Brexit have sucked up all the attention, oxygen and bandwidth of political debate and done a great deal of harm to the UK.
But a true, honest and searching debate on the state of the nation is now less rather than more likely.
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.