Britain’s quarter century: wealth and widening inequality

The United Kingdom's economic story over the past quarter-century divides sharply at 2008, according to The Conversation. Through the 2000s, the economy grew steadily—a period the Bank of England termed "NICE": non-inflationary, continually expanding growth that lifted living standards and expanded public investment. Since the financial crisis, growth has stalled at just one point five percent annually, and productivity has collapsed from two percent per year to point four percent. If productivity had held its pre-2008 pace, the average British household would be eighteen thousand pounds better off today. The damage runs deep. Government debt has ballooned from below forty percent of GDP to ninety-five percent—now two point nine trillion pounds—consuming more in interest payments than any budget line except the NHS. And the remaining gains are badly distributed: London's average income is now two and a half times that of the poorest regions, while rising house prices have priced younger generations out of homeownership even as older Britons' wealth compounds. The Conversation reports the wealth gap between the top ten percent and the median household reached one point three million pounds in the early 2020s, up sharply from one million pounds in the mid-2000s.

Listen to this story

Hear this and more stories in a personalized audio briefing.

Open The Chonkerton