We’re often accused of being a little Anglo-centric at LSS. But before being accused of even more navel- gazing, we think that readers around the world might just learn something from the troubles of one small, formerly advanced, little island. The UK.
It’s not looking too good. Terrible inflation (which must play into a sterling crisis sooner or later) growing poverty, abysmal levels of investment, falling trade……..most scary of all, the children now joining our workforce are emerging shorter than their parents, reversing a trend that has been upward since 1945. It’s easy now to blame Brexit for our current woes, a view that is starting to emerge as a consensus both among opinion formers and the public. But we say: wait. Hold your horses. Brexit has been far from helpful: but what if it was really a symptom of a deeper, long term pathology, a national decline which has been in progress for over 120 years now?
Two writers who take this view are Aditya Chakrabortty [1] and Larry Elliott [2] It’s true both writers are bit Left wing cheeky chappies; but their work is always thorough and at least provides a jumping-off point for discussion. Read Aditya for yourself; his pungency is worth it at the very least. It’s Larry( a convinced Leaver in 2016) who concerns us here. Because his analysis dates to 2007, in the palmy days of one Tony Blair and before the dreadful financial crash which exposed us for what we are.
Because the problems of UK PLC go really, really deep. An obsession with lost empire, and the class structures that go with it. An exaltation of the financier, the ad man and the spiv over the steady work of the scientist and engineer. A desperately fissured identity, riven by lines of competing classes, nations and races. An utter misunderstanding of our true place in the world, and the necessary matching of aspiration to available resources. 2007! Get that and get that good.
When we grew up, we knew certain families who had come down in the world. Badly. Daddy may have been a fine fellow, a cheerful companion and good in a fight. But he was always a dreadful businessman, self deluding and too ready to turn to the cards and the booze. UK PLC must first face the facts about itself. Otherwise, like any company in bankruptcy, it will be taken ove. And broken up.
[2]https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/may/14/politics.ukeconomy
#british economy #brexit #economics #decline #finance
for personal reasons this will be the last LSS blog for some time
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