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Foundations: Why Britain Has Stagnated

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Re: Foundations: Why Britain Has Stagnated

#171

Post by pjc50 »

lvoudour wrote: post #64

On a tangent, what is astonishing to me as an outsider is the cultural stagnation. Even in times of economic decline Britain was a cultural powerhouse. Modern music, theater, cinema, tv, literature, sports, etc. were permanently shaped by post-war Britain (especially in Europe). Whatever the cultural norm dictated by the behemoth that is the USA, Britain always had something new, something fresh to give. There's no p…

Whenever you ask someone in the creative industries, they point to the aggressive tightening of the benefits system. People could write music and books while on the dole in the 80s, and become commercial successes. Now it's an area that's only accessible to people who can afford to have their parents "loss leader" their first few years in the industry, and as a result has lost all "realness".

Re: Foundations: Why Britain Has Stagnated

#172

Post by thorin »

benjaminwootton wrote: post #38

I’ll need to sit down and read this properly, but I would say there is a real stench of decline in England at the moment and pretty much everyone here would agree. It’s readily apparent the new government won’t save us already. Public services in particular: 2 weeks to see a Dr, a year for an operation, unlikely for the police to attend your call out, stagnant economy, high cost of living and low wages. And all whils…

I've been able to see a Dr on the day I've called several times in the last couple of years. Operations happen reasonably quickly if they are "required", it's the non urgent ones that now have ridiculous waiting lists. The economy/wages issue, seems to be worldwide since covid and the various recent wars.

The new Government has had no real time to do anything yet everywhere on twitter/fb I see hundreds of people complaining, who didn't do enough complaining in the last 14 years. What happens with the current Government is yet to be seen, but it's certainly difficult to make any meaningful change in a single term.

Re: Foundations: Why Britain Has Stagnated

#173

Post by thorin »

stef25 wrote: post #122
benjaminwootton wrote: post #38

I’ll need to sit down and read this properly, but I would say there is a real stench of decline in England at the moment and pretty much everyone here would agree. It’s readily apparent the new government won’t save us already. Public services in particular: 2 weeks to see a Dr, a year for an operation, unlikely for the police to attend your call out, stagnant economy, high cost of living and low wages. And all whils…

It's hard to understand how people view the NHS. Some people claim it's the national treasure, but how does that work if service is as abysmal as what you describe ?

Main problem with systems outside the NHS and I'm really talking about the US here is if you have a major accident or a terminal illness you can easily be bankrupted if you make a wrong decision around insurance and that's not cool. I see far too many GoFundMe's for people with illnesses in the states and that is no way to run a country.

Re: Foundations: Why Britain Has Stagnated

#174

Post by falcor84 »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #126
BillFranklin wrote: post #106

This is pretty bleak reading for a resident of the UK! It's a good explanation for why there's stagnation (generally not allowed to build here). I'm a fan of their work (see the housing theory of everything [1] which is also good). I'd be interested to read what they think can be done about the planning issue. The new government hasn't really come through on their promise to address it. They ran out of low hanging fr…

The "new Government" has not yet been in power for 100 days. How exactly have they not "come through on their promise to address it"? Given the old government didn't come through on similar promises on planning for 14 years, I think we can give them another year or so to get policy and statutes in place, no?

At this point in time I'm just jaded about the whole political discourse - it seems that 90% of the discussion is devoted to "what they did" and "what we could do", with almost none about "what we did, and here's how we believe it actually affected your life"

Re: Foundations: Why Britain Has Stagnated

#175

Post by shortrounddev2 »

avianlyric wrote: post #170
shortrounddev2 wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US has one of the largest freight rail networks in the world. We don't have as big of a passenger rail investment because nobody would ride most of it

Has it occurred to you that nobody rides passenger rail in the US because there’s zero investment in passenger rail, and as a consequence the U.S. has managed to build a rail system that more difficult to use that flights, and somehow still slower than cars. I can’t think of anywhere else in the developed world where the train system is the slowest form of motorised transport around.

People ride passenger rail where it makes sense. The acela line being a good example. But if they built a high speed rail between Texas and Ohio, nobody would ride that, because flying would still be faster. We could build some HSR between major cities in Texas, Florida, California, and the Northeast corridor, but it would account for a handful of straight railways. There are major problems with building these (California is several billion over budget on their high speed rail and I don't think they've even started building), so the criticism of US overregulation is valid, but the main reason we don't have as extensive of a passenger rail system is because it wouldn't be economically viable in a country as sparsely populated as the united states

Re: Foundations: Why Britain Has Stagnated

#176

Post by swayvil »

The climax of this system where the wealthy control everything is that the wealthy grab literally all of the wealth, spending that wealth in their endless competition with each other, leaving only scraps for the rest of us. And then the rest of us fill all our time stressed out and squabbling over crumbs with no time to do something better.

That's Britain.

Re: Foundations: Why Britain Has Stagnated

#177

Post by throwaway48540 »

nmadden wrote: post #158
glomph wrote: post #140

This website makes some claims about what has caused both growth and decline that are pretty contentious. I think that many would argue that the growth following the second world war was the result of massive state investment in public services like creating the NHS and the building of council housing. They baffelingly attribute yhat growth to the Conservative Govrernment of the 1930s rather than the post war labour…

One of the authors is from the Centre for Policy Studies. Another is from the Adam Smith Institute. These are the gang of shady right-wing think tanks that brought us Truss and Kwarteng. That tells you everything you need to know about their economic competence.

What is shady about them? Are they criminals?

Re: Foundations: Why Britain Has Stagnated

#178

Post by kulor »

Similar points were covered in the recent Tyler Cowen podcast with Tobi Lütke[1] regarding economic stagnation in Canada & Germany (relative to the US).

The UK has a cynical view on progress, likely leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy. The US seems to have a contrasting view with an optimistic by default outlook.

1. https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/tobi-lutke/

Re: Foundations: Why Britain Has Stagnated

#179

Post by tempfile »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #128
benjaminwootton wrote: post #38

I’ll need to sit down and read this properly, but I would say there is a real stench of decline in England at the moment and pretty much everyone here would agree. It’s readily apparent the new government won’t save us already. Public services in particular: 2 weeks to see a Dr, a year for an operation, unlikely for the police to attend your call out, stagnant economy, high cost of living and low wages. And all whils…

I don't agree, and your data points don't match my own. How is it readily apparent the new government won't "save us" when they haven't even got to 100 days in, yet?

It's not readily apparent, it's just FUD to lay the ground for the tories to come back. They're all the same, after all :-)

Re: Foundations: Why Britain Has Stagnated

#180

Post by schmidtleonard »

glomph wrote: post #140

This website makes some claims about what has caused both growth and decline that are pretty contentious. I think that many would argue that the growth following the second world war was the result of massive state investment in public services like creating the NHS and the building of council housing. They baffelingly attribute yhat growth to the Conservative Govrernment of the 1930s rather than the post war labour…

If the asset prices don't grow, how will the rich people get paid for being rich? Won't anyone think of the poor rich people!
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