[fweingart]

Who do we thank for our sticky economy and descending dollar? The entire elite political class: the liberal pansies we send to Washington to rule us and destroy our economy!

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

No it isn’t. In the UK you aren’t allowed to defend yourself, your home, your family from invading criminals. You can be thrust into jail for saying anything at all that jihadis and other leftists don’t like.
That’s no standard of living!
I’ll take the USA.

[sappy]

that must be why everyone is moving there.

[Go Gordon]

"The UK has been catching up steadily with living standards in the US since 2001, so it is a well-established trend rather than simply the result of currency fluctuations."

Hmmmm, lets see, what happened in 2001 to turn the tide......GEORGE W. BUSH took office. The DBM is so transparent.

[astounded]

The standard of living is better in UK than the USA? Really. Have you checked a “typical” Brit’s teeth? ‘Nuff said...

[facedown]

...increasing incomes, free healthcare and longer holidays...

None of which translate to a "better standard of living" in real terms.

[WoofDog123]

“The GDP per head in the UK is expected to exceed that of the USA in 2008 They predict that gross domestic product (GDP) per head in the UK, an indicator of average incomes, will be £23,500 in 2008, compared with £23,250 in America, reflecting the strength of the pound against the dollar and the steady growth of the British economy.”

Madness, they are surely not just taking straight comparisons of currency values for this (or maybe they are).

Re the NHS, it’s free....but...

Re longer holidays, this is true. Even worse, the only thing close to a 4-day US holiday is thanksgiving, with MANY sectors open part or full-time friday after.

[BfloGuy]

This is a complete crock.

Just because the pound is worth $2 on the foreign exchange markets does not mean that it spends like $2 in the UK -- it doesn't and that's what the entire premise is based on.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

If GM cut prices, would they be described as "descending"? Probably not; instead they'd be described as "aggressive." And so it is with currencies. It is boom time for exporters now.

Besides, if you had a clue about economics rather than a brain made of sponge and saturated by the anti-American media, you'd know that the aggressive dollar is a return to normalcy, and that its unsustainable runup in the '90s was Clinton's gift to his struggling fellow socialists in Europe:


Source: Investor's Business Daily

[toddlintown]

Ha-ha-ha-ha. Show me your teeth, laddie.

[bill1952]

LOL! I have heard this nonsense from all corners of the EU in my travels.

My trainees, who are mostly all from there, are usually a bit shocked to see the difference, and also load up on a ton of gadgets and other things that they could never afford back home, but which every American kid carries in his pocket.

[vaudine]

Their health care is mentioned. Frankly, with the conditioin of their hospitals, I don't think it is better.

vaudine

[reg45]

... and only a few hundred people got killed in buses and the underground as opposed to the thousands killed in the twin towers and the Pentagon.

[longtermmemmory]

been there, don’t thinks so.

UNLESS the standard is to maximize dependence on government, totalitarian political correctness, and a lack of individual rights (ie draconian gun control laws)

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Free healthcare huh? So Doctors work for free, hospitals are built for free, and medicine is free? That’s really amazing!!!!!!!!!!! (/sarcasm)

[lowbridge]

bump

[Ann Archy]

PLEASE DO NOT BELIEVE THIS!!!!! I lived in London and my husband gave me more in an allowance than most made in a salary. MOST have NO CARS....live 3 or more to a flat....they DO drink a lot though.