europeus

Yo-yo economics, Bernstein argues, is all about privatising utilities, cutting taxes, freeing markets and generally shrinking the state. His book shows that, adjusted for inflation, a typical worker's hourly wage in the US has actually fallen slightly in the past 30 years (from $15.76 in 1973 to $15.62 in 2005) while between 1979 and 2000, the real income of the richest 1% rose by 184 percent. Britain is not as unequal as the US, but it has certainly moved in that direction. Gordon Brown may be seen as the most successful Chancellor (Minister of Finance) in living memory, but Britain looks more like the US every day. It lags behind the rest of Europe on a variety of indices. Life expectancy is lower than in Austria, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Sweden.

Spending on health and education is below the EU average; Britain has only half as many doctors per head of population as Germany, and half as many the hospital beds per capita as France. The poorest 10% of the population receives the lowest share of national income, while the richest 1% owns nearly a quarter of marketable assets, a higher share of the country's wealth than almost anywhere else in Europe. (read more)