The incredible shrinking economy (our economy is smaller today than it was in 2007)
2 of 11
As you can see, the above graph shows the size of the UK economy from 2005 to 2011 (at year-end, adjusted for inflation).
The UK economy peaked in size at £1.47 trillion in 2007 before slumping to £1.4 trillion at the end of 2009. In effect, our economy shrank by about £70 billion - around 5% - in two years, before bouncing back.
Despite modest growth in 2010 and 2011, Britain's economy slipped into a double-dip recession this year. As a result, our economy is smaller today than it was in 2007 and only slightly larger than it was in 2006.
In summary, we've gone back almost six years in time!
When will the morons that claim to run the economy realise that without manufacturing we will be a dead duck.
Property bubbles and financial services will never fill the gap caused by the Thatcher led crusade to eliminate manufacturing.
How many of our Politicians know anything about Science, Engineering or manufacturing?
The economies that do well and grow - India, China, Brazil all manufacture.
The economise that do badly have bankers and Property bubbles - how hard can it be to work that out!!!!
When Cameroon visits India on a Trdae Mission who does he take ..... Kelly Holmes - Do me a favour - nice girl but how can she possibly adequately represent British Engineering.
If I were a young Scientist or Engineer today i would be leaving and seeking my future elsewhere.
The way we are heading, the terrorists we keep, the countries we give money to and the unreal salaries that politicians etc we went from Great Britain to just Britain next we will be on the list of 3rd World Countries and why? We lost freedom of speech, we can't stand up for ourselves as we live in fear of being called racists and as for the few million immigrants oh yes they will be coming here because the border is open and we dare not speak out.
If i win the lottery any time soon I am out of this hell hole of a country.
Part of the problem is the tax system that allows foreign-owned corporate giants to get away with paying little corporation tax. Another part is the incredibly rich individuals who get rich on the backs of the low paid - a majority in the UK are paid less than the national average. Another part is that monopolies - they should be publicl owned utilities like gas, electric, water and the railways - are owned by tax avoiding profit-raking global companies - all their income should be coming into the public purse because we pay for it. And then there's the banks who our governments would rather bail out than bail out businesses, local authorities, and the NHS.
... but don't get me started ...
Some people don't mention that Unions are not entirely blame free in all of this. It goes back years/decades. Remember the 70's when Unions ran the country. I'd rather have the situation we have now (albeit not a good one) that back then with power cuts, strikes every week, 26% inflation, winter of discontent, fuel shortages, having to go to the IMF cap in hand. The list is almost limitless.
People blame Maggie Thatcher but something had to be done about Unions and socialism.
If not, we would more than likely be living in a State run society, a la France, where they pay massive taxes, even more that here, and thats saying something.
Beware socialism and Unions.
Last week I saw a long coal train bringing in imported coal to a foreign owned power station.
It stinks. We used to have a coal industry and a car insustry, now gone.
Overly reliant on financial services is the centre of the evil here. Brown is responsible for that and was possibly one of the worst men to be in the driving seat at the time. Remember this was a man who admitted he hated math at school and sold a shed load of our nations gold reserves while the prices were at their lowest just before they shot up in value.
We need to get back to grassroots to encourage growth, which is understandably why the tory government is investing in the sciences. However this is a little bit of a long shot as investing in science doesnt garantee results.
Another issue is making manufacturing in this country attractive. Pharmaceuticals is something which contributes a lot to this country's success, but also the people at the top are dodging the taxes they should be paying, short changing the treasury and forcing borrowing to pay for initiatives which are not always necessary for the good of the nation but endorsed by governments. 50% of individuals graduating in the UK (a Blair dream) is one. Their is no point in creating graduates for top jobs unless the jobs exist and also the number of my freinds who have good quality degreees but work in sectors completely un-related and under-paid is starting to become a norm.
The truth of the matter is a dramatic change is needed,
and not just in this country but world wide.
Every reaction has an equal and opposite reaction, and as tentions rise so does the response to it. It doesnt look good...
