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> Nor can austerity or the hangover from the financial crisis explain Britain’s malaise. The financial crisis was at least as turbulent in the United States as

> Nor can austerity or the hangover from the financial crisis explain Britain’s malaise. The financial crisis was at least as turbulent in the United States as here. Yes it can. For the UK the financial sector was a dramatically important one, more so than practically for any other major country. London was the undisputed financial center for whole Europe and beyond, a legacy of Empire days, the pound as reserve currency etc. This had serious distorting effects: Abysmal center-periphery inequalities; the fatal attraction of talented people to lucrative but mostly pointless financial engineering games; the neglect of "bricks and mortar" etc. The financial crisis and Brexit demolished this fragile, hyperconcentrated economic posture. Not in the sharp and seemingly recoverable fashion that, e.g., COVID damaged the tourism industry of various countries but in a chronic, gentle decline kind of way. In the long-term one would think that the immense cultural heritage of Britain across pretty much the entire knowledge spectrum would somehow translate into a way forward. But as we increasingly get to know all too well, the problems of modern societies are self-inflicted and they reflect fundamental breakdowns of social contracts. Yes, despite what that British lady said, there is an emergent phenomenon called "society" and if you deny its existence you will get devoured by demons of its own creation.

mike_hearn 2y ago
The financial crisis was a specific event and other countries had put it behind them within a few years. The UK's growth inflected around that time and never recovered since. It doesn't make much sense to argue a temporary event changed UK productivity or economic growth permanently, especially as the only reason to think that is rough temporal proximity. There were other things going on at that time too that are equally or more plausible e.g. mass immigration from eastern Europe was kicking into gear around that time as well, which created a glut of cheap labour. Cheap labour always kills productivity growth because there's no reason to invest in automation. > Yes, despite what that British lady said, there is an emergent phenomenon called "society" and if you deny its existence you will get devoured by demons of its own creation. Thatcher was responding to people who asserted that for any given problem, "society" should solve it or pay for it. Her answer made the obvious point: when it comes to taxation, there really is no such thing as society. To complete the quote: "they are casting their problems on society and who is society? There is no such thing! There are individual men and women and there are families".
mpweiher 2y ago
> For the UK the financial sector was a dramatically important one The Finance Curse: Britain and the World Economy • Outlines harms caused to countries hosting an oversized financial sector • Argues Britain is subject to a Finance Curse, which carries many similarities with the Resource Curse, afflicting mineral-exporting countries • Provides a narrative and framework to analyse the political economy of finance and financialisation https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1369148115612793 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/136914811561279... The Resource Curse: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse

mike_hearn 2y ago

The financial crisis was a specific event and other countries had put it behind them within a few years. The UK's growth inflected around that time and never recovered since. It doesn't make much sense to argue a temporary event changed UK productivity or economic growth permanently, especially as the only reason to think that is rough temporal proximity. There were other things going on at that time too that are equally or more plausible e.g. mass immigration from eastern Europe was kicking into gear around that time as well, which created a glut of cheap labour. Cheap labour always kills productivity growth because there's no reason to invest in automation. > Yes, despite what that British lady said, there is an emergent phenomenon called "society" and if you deny its existence you will get devoured by demons of its own creation. Thatcher was responding to people who asserted that for any given problem, "society" should solve it or pay for it. Her answer made the obvious point: when it comes to taxation, there really is no such thing as society. To complete the quote: "they are casting their problems on society and who is society? There is no such thing! There are individual men and women and there are families".

mpweiher 2y ago

> For the UK the financial sector was a dramatically important one The Finance Curse: Britain and the World Economy • Outlines harms caused to countries hosting an oversized financial sector • Argues Britain is subject to a Finance Curse, which carries many similarities with the Resource Curse, afflicting mineral-exporting countries • Provides a narrative and framework to analyse the political economy of finance and financialisation https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1369148115612793 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/136914811561279... The Resource Curse: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse