While Economic Challenges Escalate, Britain Risks Italy-style Fall

While Economic Challenges Escalate, Britain Risks Italy-style Fall
May 18, 2021, 7:07 am

By Reuters Staff

A think-tank said on Tuesday that: "Britain faces a decade of major public policy challenges that could decrease economic performance to nearer that of struggling Italy than Germany, Europe’s powerhouse."

The Resolution Foundation said the UK had to address problems related to Brexit on top of those faced by other countries including the effect of COVID-19, the transition to a net-zero carbon economy, an ageing population and technological change.

It said that: "Without good plans, Britain risked failing to address the slowest productivity growth for over 120 years in the past ten years and higher inequality than any country in the EU except Bulgaria."

Clive Cowdrey, founder of the Resolution Foundation, said that: “Britain's latest record of weak productivity, fragile living standards and high inequality makes a new economic approach desirable."

"What makes a new approach essential is the scale of coming change.”

PM Johnson has guaranteed to “level up” Britain’s economy by focusing on investment and jobs to regions that lag behind London and zones around the capital. He moreover spaeks of a “Global Britain” after its exit from the EU.

However the Resolution Foundation said that: "Britain lacked a plan to realize these goals over the following decade and that the nation gambled wasting economic strengths such as high levels of employment, which were presently at chance from increased automation.

While it launched an inquiry jointly with the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Financial matters, the Resolution Foundation said: "Italy had seen no growth in gross domestic product per capita over the past twenty years whereas Britain recently fell further behind Germany."

The think-tank said: “If the UK’s pace of underperformance relative to Germany continues at the same pace in the 2020s, then it will end this decade with GDP per capita much closer to that of Italy than Germany."

The inquiry is financed by the Nuffield Foundation, a charity that funds research for social policy.

Source: Reuters

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