The UK is actually a fairly formidable economic powerhouse, the cash that goes through it is not inconsiderable. Socially, its easy to write it off as a disaster, until you've actually seen or lived in a country that is actually, a disaster, its quite an unfair comparison and probably just better described as 'crappy'.
Reason I'll stay away is simply the taxation is horrendous and the weather is rubbish
But my UK passport will get me in far more countries without so much as a glance compared to one from the USA, which by and large is about one of the most unwelcoming of close to #1 of 4 dozen countries I've been through in terms of a police state.
Kind of sad really
quote: | Originally posted by Ian
Perhaps having 'power' isn't really worth it. You're a target for everyone and it's easy to see why. I'd rather we were just quiet cousins, like canada. We don't have the inclination to be your lapdog and are torn between the loyalty to you from old times and the EU which has some good things, but many bad things, especially as we take on more & more countries from the east, which adds to debt and also puts a strain on our jobs market, because the people will work for less money than locals, but most of the money earned by these people doesn't go back into the country but gets sent back 'home' but they're still entitled to everything the same. Add to that the lack of jobs in general, as companies moved things to india/china whilst taking on huge amounts of people from those countries anyway and you have the recipe for social unrest but also poor service. |
Its the same everywhere, India and China basically do production for a cost that is virtually free + shipping and very good at putting out a lot of it on a regular basis. Developing countries labour costs just cannot compete against that and they're hanging themselves out to die very slowly by doing it.
They are waking up slowly to the fact that their own internal markets are dying at the same rate so eventually they will probably begin to slow with government incentives to keep stuff at home. Might even out eventually before China puts its master-plan into action and unleashes the power of the Yuan once they have enough capital behind them to sustain them through the eventual drop off in exports that will get depressed by the higher currency value.
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