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Britons now richer than Americans

Q

Queso

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Original poster
Mar 4, 2006
11,821
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Listen up people of North America*. According to this article over at the BBC (who of course will be completely impartial on the subject matter), it appears your old Colonial masters have risen once again to our rightful place as your superiors and can now cheerfully wave our Sterling in your miserable Dollar-earning faces. To quote:-

The average UK person will this year have a greater income than their US counterpart for the first time since the 19th Century, figures suggest.

Analyst Oxford Economics said the UK's GDP per head of population will reach £23,500 - £250 higher than in the US.

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

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

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

"No longer are we the 'sick man of Europe'."

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

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

Mr Cooper said: "The UK has been catching up steadily with living standards in the US since 2001, so it is a well-established trend rather than simply the result of currency fluctuations."
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I hope you're all happy with your new lowly status, and you can always console yourselves by repeating the mantra that money isn't everything and reorganising your society into some form of collective communes or something. Meanwhile we will of course be glad to throw you some loose change next time we step over you after an evening quoffing Verve at the opera. I bet you all wish you'd let the tea stay on the boat now don't you? :p


* Canadians and Latin Americans excepted
 
Unfortunately for you brits, everything is so much more expensive there that you lose your advantage.

I suggest touristing in the U.S. Clearly we need your money ;)
 
I'm rather surprised by this, actually. Probably just the area I live in though. Spokane probably has one of if not the lowest cost of living of pretty much the whole country...and while it's not a bad place, it has a pretty bad hobo problem (bums and homeless), tons of meth (which is why there are so many homeless, they're almost all druggies) and I see quite a bit of poverty.

I've been over to Britain and I see tons and tons of fancy expensive cars everywhere I go, while the nicer cars over here are rarities.

Add into the fact that the pound is worth far more than the dollar, I'd always assumed the average British person carried more money than the average American person (although the cost of living there is considerably higher so the Briton isn't necessarily "richer").

I'm curious if the fact that we have a number of absurdly rich people over here (Bill Gates, for example) skews the results at all, if they're taking averages.


I await and expect the replies telling me how wrong I am :D
 
Well, this is based on "real" GDP, meaning the exchange rate determines it. So the UK's rise relative to the US is due almost entirely to the dollar's decline, not in any large increase in UK's GDP.

As the article notes, in terms of PPP, the US is still far ahead (for the timebeing).
 
miloblithe said:
As the article notes, in terms of PPP, the US is still far ahead (for the timebeing).
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I wouldn't say the US is far ahead. According to Wikipedia, the US is at fourth place by purchasing power parity, with a PPP adjusted per capita income of $43223. The UK is at the 13th place, with a PPP adjusted per capita of income of $35486. Luxembourg is in first place, with a PPP adjusted per capita of income of $81511. Now that's far ahead! :eek:
 
John Jacob said:
I wouldn't say the US is far ahead. According to Wikipedia, the US is at fourth place by purchasing power parity, with a PPP adjusted per capita income of $43223. The UK is at the 13th place, with a PPP adjusted per capita of income of $35486. Luxembourg is in first place, with a PPP adjusted per capita of income of $81511. Now that's far ahead! :eek:
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to Luxemburg i go! lol jk

ezekielrage_99 said:
But the US has George Bush, so I'm guessing the UK wins that argument :confused:
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hey now President Bush isn't bad

now if you said gates, i would have understood
 
John Jacob said:
Luxembourg is in first place, with a PPP adjusted per capita of income of $81511. Now that's far ahead! :eek:
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Luxembourg is an unusual case because the country's workforce largely commutes in. Luxembourg also has an extensive banking industry (larger than its proportional share should be). If we go to the next country after that (and the several after it) the numbers are very close (between the high $30 thousands and mid $40 thousands).
 
GFLPraxis said:
I'm rather surprised by this, actually. Probably just the area I live in though. Spokane probably has one of if not the lowest cost of living of pretty much the whole country...

I've been over to Britain and I see tons and tons of fancy expensive cars everywhere I go, while the nicer cars over here are rarities.
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I've never been to the UK, but it sounds like you're comparing Spokane to London. Spokane is nowhere near indicative of the nation's wealth. It very much depends where you are as to whether or not you see expensive cars often or not. Here in San Diego, BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche are quite common makes of car. And when I'm in Washington, it's not terribly uncommon to see a Bentley or Aston Martin every once in a while. I think what you're seeing isn't that the UK is richer than the US, but probably that wealth in the UK is far more evenly distributed than in the US.
 
Here in Saddleworth the pro footballers all drive them big fancy cars, but it's no measure for the whole country. Getting the bus into Manchester and it goes through some pretty terrible areas.

That's the beauty of the UK. The accent, wealth, styles and tastes all change by street.
 
Wow, took you guys long enough... :p

I don't know that saying you're better than Americans is that much of a victory. I'm from America (Ohio) but my China made toothpick is better than America.

Our only saving grace at the moment is that in 11 months time, we may be back on the road to recovery...

I really don't hold America in that high regard anymore. I lost my Patriotism after this whole "Iraq/Afghanistan/Iran/Still Can't find Bin Laden/Patriot Act that takes away rights/Almost a Police State/America is the Police of the world" thing

~Crawn
 
MacNut said:
Who is that, Kelly's brother?
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This guy that presents this show called top gear
637542.jpg


http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/
 
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