Latest Moan From You and Me 2025

I think we are second lowest, @pete, after one of the Eastern European countries. Scandalous when you consider we are one of the richest countries and have a higher cost of living than many of our European neighbours.

 

One begins to wonder how " one of the richest countries" is actually defined ? The West has always been described as rich but again, the actual definition is never made clear.
The UK isn't ridden by famine or war - at least not yet. It also has free health care for all citizens ( not working too well at present ) and cash benefits for those in need ( also not working perfectly either } . Food banks can be used without the threat of being mown down by firearms. It does have some resources we should be grateful for such as water on tap and energy supplies but we pay dearly for both whilst the suppliers continue to grab as much money as possible and, in the water case in particular, have failed badly re infrastructure. Our population appears to be rising steadily ( legal or not ) , property prices are higher and affordable housing said to be in short supply. Both present and past govts are constantly discovering "black holes" in the nation's finances and tend to look to the less well off to pay for it one way or another rather than asking the wealthy to contribute a bit more.
There are other issues to debate and whilst there are certainly plenty of people here one could describe as rich ( some obscenely so ) and many milking the system, the UK cannot really be described as a rich country for the majority of it's citizens

 

I never see this country as a rich country, my early years were after WW2 and they were not rich, then in the 60s and 70s we thought we were rich but were just happy we could have a bottle of wine instead of brown ale, if you get my meaning.

The 80s were better, but still we were not rich, the 90s, I cant remember them being wonderful and since then its been all about austerity.
Britain is not great anymore, we are a spent force that appears to be looking after everyone except our own.

 

According to this article, the UK is the 29th richest country based on GDP, purchasing power and a few other important factors. Interestingly, Luxembourg comes top, followed by Singapore and Ireland and they all have creative tax régimes and business incentives. Top 50 Richest Countries in the World - Uniwide

EU and EFTA pensions vary widely with Nordic countries being the most generous and EU wannabes the lowest:
Which countries have the highest and lowest pensions in Europe?

The UK state pesnions comes in at just shy of £12,000 or roughly 13,800€

Austerity really began after the housing market and banks collapse in 2008. Governments spent billions propping up the financial system and all those rich bankers but were not creative enough to invest in their own populations and infrastructure to counter balance the losses.

It was the ideal time to restructure a falied financial system but they failed. We, the ordinary men and women and our children and their children, will be paying the costs for decades.

 

Not quite sure how we should be described these days - as @pete says, we can hardly be described as Great and even the United Kingdom is a misnomer with Scotland and Wales seeking independance from England.
Perhaps we should re name ourselves as "that collection of islands between the continents of Europe and America".
Any income over £12 k pa is taxable here - if you take account of Council tax at £2000 plus pa and cost of water, electric, gas and oil it doesn't leave an awful lot. Food prices are increasing too. Those who have been thrifty enough over the years to put money by for their "old age" are often finding any savings diminishing just to see them thru life now - heaven help them if they have to end up in a Care Home or on the streets.

 

GDP, what the hell is that?
It has no meaning to the bloke in the street trying to get by, its just a statistic.

If the GDP isn't shared out across the population it has no meaning, to my mind.

We need a more sensible yard stick, one that sheds more light on how the population is doing rather than GDP.

 

GDP - Gross Domestic Product. It's just the total sum of everything a country makes, be that goods or services @pete On its own, it's a crude measure but the survey link I gave you does take more than that into account, inclduing spending power and happiness.

 

Yes I Read about the pensions ect. we seem to be in the middle just above some.

I know what GDP is I was just pointing out that gross domestic product means nothing if you are on 12, 000 a year.
Its all a bit demoralising really.
I suppose I should be happy I dont live in a tent, I dont get bombed every day.

I'm fairly happy with my life but I do find my finances being whittled away.
But I've never been one to expect much anyway.

 

The "creative" tax schemes in Luxembourg, Singapore, Ireland, etc, are not to be applauded, @Obelix-Vendée. These very directly allow huge corporations to avoid taxes in the countries in which they operate.

I'm with @pete. GDP is a meaningless measure in that it does not take into account income distribution, which is the thing that really matters. Countries with the smallest gap between richest and poorest have populations with better mental health/happiness levels, fewer people in prison, and much better social cohesion.

 

I didn't say it was praiseworthy @ViewAhead, just creative.

I'm all for fairness in taxes and benefits and the rich paying a greater share of their assets.

 

There isn't a "pot". The NI contributions paid at any time go straight out to pay the current pensioners. And my mum got her state pension at 60, but I won't get mine till 67, and younger people might have to wait and contribute even longer.

 

Which is where its all gone wrong.
Which is also why I say if a pension company was running it like the governments do it would be illegal.

 

It was a huge change in the pension system, and I think they did their best to make it as fair as possible e.g. people who had been in SERPS for years didn't lose out when SERPS was abolished. But inevitably you can't make everyone winners.

 

Well yes, it would be a Ponzi scheme, wouldn't it? Which is likely why they have to describe it as a benefit rather than an entitlement.

 

With government pensions there are no winners just those that do a bit better than others