Britain has world’s top economy

Britain ended last year as the strongest of the world’s advanced economies with growth accelerating in the six months after the Brexit vote.

Business activity hit a 17-month high last month, meaning that the economy grew by 2.2 per cent last year — more than the six other leading nations, including the US, Germany and Japan.

Far from slowing after the referendum in June, as predicted by the Treasury and Bank of England, growth appeared to have improved. GDP grew at 0.3 per cent and 0.6 per cent in the first two quarters of last year, compared with 0.6 per cent and an estimated 0.5 per cent in the final period.

Britain has world’s top economy

Wow....this is a surprise as most said Britain would be lost if they fled the European Union confederation...

Quite the opposite is happening...

Apparently when Britain is not forced to subsidize ludicrous socialist policies on mainland Europe they thrive…

As a child of British imperialism[American] I'm proud to see them once again rise again near the top of the world economic ladder[where they belong]…

Japan, Canada, India and America are all, at their core, steeped(pun intended) in British sensibilities as we are each an extension of their imperial years in one way or the other…

Though Japan had these ideals foisted upon them after a lost war...the point remains that any society America shapes can trace it's lineage back to Britain…

So again, congratulations to Britain for cutting yourself free of a European albatross and once again setting your own course in this world because as history proves Britain is just fine governing herself and abiding solely by her own economic policies which would benefit Britain...then Europe and then the World…

As a sidenote, it gives me great please knowing Trumps mother was Scottish and Donald holds the correct reverence for Great Britain, our greatest historical ally save that little Revolution period and a brief spell around 1812 or so...

-Chris

a reply to: Christosterone

Unfortunately, these figures mean nothing, because they refer to the sort of trade and business that only advantages the few, whereas the important thing is how well the street level economy, that everyone is involved with is doing, and that is not doing very well at all.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: Christosterone

Unfortunately, these figures mean nothing, because they refer to the sort of trade and business that only advantages the few, whereas the important thing is how well the street level economy, that everyone is involved with is doing, and that is not doing very well at all.

My cousin is a venture capitalist in London...
Heck, he married a Brit and and has a beautiful British baby...well, half British, half Texan
Interestingly he was opposed to Brexit and his wife voted accordingly thinking they would lose access to the riches of mainland Europe...

Cut to now and he is awash in capital form European states as they see wild potential in the a less regulated, less beholden Britain..

His situation is generally my indicator as it's the only real context I have..plus he's a democrat(as is most of my family) so he tends to be fairly biased...

I bought him a first edition fountainhead for Christmas and told him he is probably the only big government VC in the world lol

btw, I'm becoming quite a fan of you and your often EXCELLENT posts...though we often disagree you ALWAYS stand by your convictions and are open to other opinions and are polite...

-Chris(TrueBrit fan)

a reply to: Christosterone

I would qualify your title with the word "growing" so it reads Britain has world's top growing economy. In real terms, we are still around the 5th largest economy in the world (overall).

I would also state that Brexit hasn't happened yet. The real effects of the decision are expected to be felt later on this year (back end of year) so we will see then. To be honest i was firmly in the terrible economic decision camp concerning Brexit and so far am relieved i was wrong. The trouble is that i really aren't convinced i will still be proved wrong later in this year and next year.

a reply to: Christosterone

So again, congratulations to Britain for cutting yourself free of a European albatross and once again setting your own course in this world because as history proves Britain is just fine governing herself and abiding solely by her own economic policies which would benefit Britain...then Europe and then the World…

Actually Britain is a corrupt cesspool run by incompetent fools who only serve the rich, and the poverty levels are getting worse

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: Christosterone

Unfortunately, these figures mean nothing, because they refer to the sort of trade and business that only advantages the few, whereas the important thing is how well the street level economy, that everyone is involved with is doing, and that is not doing very well at all.

Yes and no mate. It includes the Service sector (we would be struggling seriously without this inclusion) which benefits everyone from high paid to low paid....but obviously much less benefit to the low paid.

Street level economy is giving mixed signals. Parts of the country are booming in this respect but others are struggling......and personal borrowing has grown to statospheric levels - we are buying loads but borrowing heavily to do it. This is not a bad thing in itself but my real worry is when the effects of Brexit start to be felt. An economic contraction combined with sky high levels of personal borrowing = much heartache ahead. The flip side though is if the economy keeps growing - the personal debt levels won't be so important then.

originally posted by: Flavian
a reply to: Christosterone

I would qualify your title with the word "growing" so it reads Britain has world's top growing economy. In real terms, we are still around the 5th largest economy in the world (overall).

I would've change a number of things in the title but ATS mods would have edited it because any title in the breaking news forum must be a word for word re-creation of the news article to which the op is referring…

-Chris

a reply to: Christosterone

You obviously didn't see the top economist they had on the BBC news yesterday who stated that this deosn't mean this is going to be the norm, they anticipate a big downturn of the UK economy this year.

As Truebrit states, this is not about the little people, when we're singing and dancing about how good our economy is doing, then you could say we have a strong economy. I don't anticipate this being in my lifetime, i'm 40 this year...

a reply to: Christosterone

Apparently when Britain is not forced to subsidize ludicrous socialist policies on mainland Europe they thrive…

Nothing has changed yet we're still a part of the EU , the bump has come from the fall in the pound.

It remains to be seen if Brexit means Brexit.

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: Christosterone

Apparently when Britain is not forced to subsidize ludicrous socialist policies on mainland Europe they thrive…

Nothing has changed yet we're still a part of the EU , the bump has come from the fall in the pound.

It remains to be seen if Brexit means Brexit.

Exactly.

Once they start the true exist and start renegotiating trade deals, then we'll see some effect on the economy.

~Tenth

a reply to: Christosterone

I appreciate your sentiments. Thank you.

Now... I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your cousin, the venture capitalist, and how well they might be doing, is hardly an indicator of how well the street level economy of the country is doing. To say that your cousin is not representative of the average person in the street, would, I fear, be somewhat of a staggering understatement.

Most of us are not involved in the financial services industry in the least. We have normal jobs. Retail assistants, mechanics, delivery persons, civil servants (frontline, not upper management) plumbers, bus drivers, waiters, that sort of thing. The majority of people are regular folk, not venture capitalists! The majority of people exist outside the radius within which the benefits of this allegedly high performance economy tend to be felt.

At the sharp end, wages relative to productivity have not been lower since the workhouse days, cost of living is doing nothing but rising, house prices and rental cost are not showing any significant or relevant sign of dropping to affordable levels, and the government are cutting all forms of assistance one by one, while destroying our healthcare system. That would seem to me, to put this whole "top economy" thing into some perspective.

Here's my idea of a properly performing economy...

People on the lowest wages can still afford accommodation without having a panic attack about it.

No one is hungry unless they are dieting.

There are no homeless.

The government can afford to commit resources to keep the mentally ill well cared for, and off the streets, out of the cold.

No one has to wait for more than six minutes for the arrival of an ambulance, no matter what injury they seem to have when the emergency services are called.

No one waits more than half an hour to see their family doctor, on any day of the week.

No one waits more than six hours to be given an appointment at the doctors office.

The police are always less than one minute and thirty seconds away from a crime scene, because there are so many of them.

The trains run on time, every time, even in snow.

Those are markers of a properly performing economy. No starving children, no people forced out onto the streets, no one failing to keep up their payments, and nearly no one taking advantage of credit cards, because their jobs pay well enough that they nearly never have to touch credit at all.

That is not the situation. There is SO much fear about finances in this country, so much of its population is living in absolute terror of losing their housing, their job, their kids as a result of the first two things... This is not an acceptable situation, and this is not a high performance economy. Its a Godsend to those who happen to already be in an advantageous position, but more than seventeen million Britons have less than one hundred pounds in the bank right now. Think about that. Our population is only sixty something million or so. Things are not good right now, put it that way.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: Christosterone

Unfortunately, these figures mean nothing, because they refer to the sort of trade and business that only advantages the few, whereas the important thing is how well the street level economy, that everyone is involved with is doing, and that is not doing very well at all.

Exactly. The overall figures reflect an economy bolstered by the resources exploited from other nations.

I could be wrong, what products does the UK export that make it 'number one' among the worlds economies?

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: Christosterone

It remains to be seen if Brexit means Brexit.

Brexit doesn't mean a damn thing, it's a mekey-up word...

a reply to: djz3ro

Brexit doesn't mean a damn thing, it's a mekey-up word...

All words are made up that doesn't mean they don't have meaning.

a reply to: TrueBrit
Those are markers of a properly performing economy. No starving children, no people forced out onto the streets, no one failing to keep up their payments, and nearly no one taking advantage of credit cards, because their jobs pay well enough that they nearly never have to touch credit at all.

You are describing Marxist environment…a liberal utopia is an impossible endeavor as is proven time and time again…

Would you have the government handle peoples allowable credit?

Why do you think children are starving?
I can give you the basic answer…
Subsidies!!!
Uneducated fools are popping out babies and prodigious rates whose fathers are scoundrels and they're low IQ genes are propagating and over running the intellectual class…
Since the dawn of man athe woman was forced to pick a mate who would provide for her and protect her offspring either through intellectual prowess or physical…
This is an inherent part of our genetic predispositions because evolution forced women to choose quality mates or they and their child would die…

The very moment governments began subsidizing those who would choose scoundrels as mates our collective, societal IQs began dropping…

Because women were no longer required to pick a father who could either care for her or hold down the fort while she earned the income thanks to government subsidies, our societal infrastructure collapsed..

Spare me the communist talking points because you have no idea what is actually occurring on the streets of the truly impoverished...

I beg you spend an afternoon in a level I trauma center and see the effect of poor male role modeling and sub-par haplotype expression en masse...

The starving children argument falls flat on me and I will not delve further into this ludicrous cesspool of liberal trite because it is, quite simply, irrelevant to my op...

-Chris

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: djz3ro

Brexit doesn't mean a damn thing, it's a mekey-up word...

All words are made up that doesn't mean they don't have meaning.

Oh you got me there. It just annoys me because it's one of these words made from mashing two words together, which is very lazy...

originally posted by: Zcustosmorum
a reply to: Christosterone

So again, congratulations to Britain for cutting yourself free of a European albatross and once again setting your own course in this world because as history proves Britain is just fine governing herself and abiding solely by her own economic policies which would benefit Britain...then Europe and then the World…

Actually Britain is a corrupt cesspool run by incompetent fools who only serve the rich, and the poverty levels are getting worse

No, it's actually rather nice

a reply to: TrueBrit
Blimey Brit, I just had to reply to your post. I could not have put it more elegantly myself. Probably elegant is to elegant a word to use, maybe depressingly. Oh to be rich,it reminds me of a saying "I'm all right jack", but they forget the ending. "I'm all right jack so FU".

If the British economy was doing well at a local level then there wouldn't be the massive sell offs (privatization) of as much of the public services as possible. Across the board from refuse to prisons and healthcare. All of it has been sold to the lowest bidder, even the postal service has been sold off.

Meanwhile wages are stagnant the food and utility price has gone up. The Council tax bill keeps increasing even though councils have been cutting back hard on budgets and privatizing much of what they do as well.

The outlook for Britain I fear I quite bleak, I expect us to go through a crippling "Hard Brexit". I would however rather go through the hardship now than when the EU finally folds and brings the econemies of all EU member states with it.

Dead Elf

originally posted by: Dem0nc1eaner

originally posted by: Zcustosmorum
a reply to: Christosterone

So again, congratulations to Britain for cutting yourself free of a European albatross and once again setting your own course in this world because as history proves Britain is just fine governing herself and abiding solely by her own economic policies which would benefit Britain...then Europe and then the World…

Actually Britain is a corrupt cesspool run by incompetent fools who only serve the rich, and the poverty levels are getting worse

No, it's actually rather nice

And if you ignore the global crimes of your financial system and banks combined with illegal wars and arms dealing, I guess to some it might be