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Britain Is a Developing Country

sambowman.co

1–10 of 238 posts

Re: Britain Is a Developing Country

#2
> the UK is now a lot more like Poland than it is like the United States in terms of the kinds of growth it needs to do – driven by improved use of existing technology and inputs, and accumulation of capital, rather than driven primarily by technological advancement. With the exception of a few sectors like AI, we are so far behind the frontier in terms of economic development that worrying about technological progress doesn’t make much sense, and at worst is a serious distraction.

Re: Britain Is a Developing Country

#3

> the UK is now a lot more like Poland than it is like the United States in terms of the kinds of growth it needs to do – driven by improved use of existing technology and inputs, and accumulation of capital, rather than driven primarily by technological advancement. With the exception of a few sectors like AI, we are so far behind the frontier in terms of economic development that worrying about technological progre…

That is quite the exception... The thing that is supposed to be the next big thing

Re: Britain Is a Developing Country

#4

> the UK is now a lot more like Poland than it is like the United States in terms of the kinds of growth it needs to do – driven by improved use of existing technology and inputs, and accumulation of capital, rather than driven primarily by technological advancement. With the exception of a few sectors like AI, we are so far behind the frontier in terms of economic development that worrying about technological progre…

That is quite the exception... The thing that is supposed to be the next big thing

It might be the next big thing, but there's pretty much a 100% guarantee that the UK will not be the driving force for it.

Re: Britain Is a Developing Country

#5

> the UK is now a lot more like Poland than it is like the United States in terms of the kinds of growth it needs to do – driven by improved use of existing technology and inputs, and accumulation of capital, rather than driven primarily by technological advancement. With the exception of a few sectors like AI, we are so far behind the frontier in terms of economic development that worrying about technological progre…

That is quite the exception... The thing that is supposed to be the next big thing

Is it? By its nature AI might add to Britain's GDP but seems unlikely to positively affect poverty or employment.

Re: Britain Is a Developing Country

#6
Does the UK have anything going for it? It is very hard for me to see the UK having a better quality of life in future than they had in the past. Not being part of the EU means they will mostly be squeezed in trade negotiations. And the UK does not have any industry going for it, so sooner or later the living standards would catch up with the rest of the developing world at the middle.

Re: Britain Is a Developing Country

#9
Having lived in multiple western EU countries and in the US, and now living in the UK, I can say that it's not developing, it's regressing.

It is baffling how bad everything is, from public services (8 months of average waiting time in the NHS for something as benign as a lumbar puncture) to worker's rights (it's literally worse than the US). And now they of course committed economic suicide with the Brexit.

I simply do not understand how anyone can think that the UK is a first-world country if they have ever lived in a real one before.

Re: Britain Is a Developing Country

#10
> In the UK, the preoccupations of the “elite” – by which I mean the people, left and right, in politics, government and media whose views shape those of the country – are with things like Net Zero (above all), inequality, obesity, delivering Brexit, regulating Big Tech, data ethics and privacy, cutting immigration, gender and racial pay gaps, and other priorities that are either unrelated to, or diametrically opposed to, making the country richer.
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