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Britain poorer than Mississippi

264 replies

BritishMississippi · 12/06/2026 16:52

Our GDP per capita has now dipped to the level of America’s poorest state. It’s not dipped below due solely to London. We’ve been on a spiral for the last twenty years that means our children are facing not being able to find jobs and even the jobs they can find have miserable wages attached to them. AIBU that we need to engage quite seriously with how to bring the country out of this spiral in a meaningful way?

OP posts:
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11
MidnightMeltdown · 12/06/2026 17:28

Probably because our workforce are all claiming that they’re too ill to work. Look at the stats compared to the US.

Britain poorer than Mississippi
bafta16 · 12/06/2026 17:27

" austerity" was completely fabricated. A sort of collective belt tightening which would do good in the end.
Only it didn't.

TemperanceWest · 12/06/2026 17:27

followtheswallow · 12/06/2026 17:22

There are a tiny handful of thoughtful posts but mostly it’s just people bickering, insulting one another and generally being objectionable. Hardly the OPs fault, though.

Sorry, I was being a bit facetious. So much gloom and doom on MN these days. It feels as though there is a push to paint things in as grim a light as possible.

DeftGoldHedgehog · 12/06/2026 17:25

SinceYoureGayAndAddictedToHeroin · 12/06/2026 17:14

2010s austerity which destroyed the country's productivity and public services, and didn't even "pay off the debt" as it was supposedly intended to (the debt increased massively).
Whose fault? Tory voters.

Brexit which has cost us hundreds of millions of pounds and yielded none of the claimed benefits.
Whose fault? Brexit voters.

Mishandling of COVID, again to enormous financial cost.
Whose fault? Tory/Brexit voters. ("Boris is a great PM and will get Brexit done")

The "Boris wave" - EU citizens (i.e. net contributors) leave in droves, replaced by people from the developing world and their dependents; immigration triples, just as anyone with any sense warned would happen after Brexit.
Whose fault? Tory/Brexit voters.

Asylum processing system deliberately starved of resources in order to cause the crisis in an attempt to win votes.
Whose fault? Tory/Brexit voters.

Truss mini-budget which virtually crashed the economy and put hundreds of pounds on mortgages?
Whose fault? Tory voters.

Oh no sorry, you're right actually - the long-standing systemic problems of this country have actually been caused entirely by Labour in two years. I was completely wrong.

Never mind though, the same people who did all the above (Tory/Reform/Brexit voters) have the perfect solution in the form of electing Nigel Farage. Wonder who they'll blame when it then all gets even worse? Oh yeah - everybody else, as always.

Edited

👏Well said. Farage wants a system of a handful of billionaires and millions of low paid worker ants slaving away for them.

SerendipityJane · 12/06/2026 17:24

followtheswallow · 12/06/2026 17:22

There are a tiny handful of thoughtful posts but mostly it’s just people bickering, insulting one another and generally being objectionable. Hardly the OPs fault, though.

No it's not.

BritishMississippi · 12/06/2026 17:24

@TemperanceWest Maybe you’re the new one if you haven’t worked out name changing? Feel free to fact check what I’m posting. Per capita GDP has plummeted and it matters. We need to stop blaming and come up with sensible policies to move forward.

OP posts:
SerendipityJane · 12/06/2026 17:23

BritishMississippi · 12/06/2026 17:16

@BreakingBrokenWe aren’t talking about total GDP we are talking about GDP per capita which is the most widely used proxy for standard of living enabling the comparison of countries of very different sizes.

So what you are really saying is the poorest Briton would still prefer Mississippi's healthcare and education system And presumably their employment and laws too ?

If only there was a phrase like "all things being equal". I think I shall devote my dotage to trying to sneak it into debates. Who knows, it may catch on ?

followtheswallow · 12/06/2026 17:22

TemperanceWest · 12/06/2026 17:19

Welcome to MN OP. Good to see your first thread is a positive one to kick off the weekend with 🥳🍻🎶

There are a tiny handful of thoughtful posts but mostly it’s just people bickering, insulting one another and generally being objectionable. Hardly the OPs fault, though.

HumberSquid · 12/06/2026 17:22

NotAnotherScarf · 12/06/2026 16:56

One word Labour

Why? The last 20 years have been largely dominated by Conservative governments.

Miyagi99 · 12/06/2026 17:19

Well we shouldn’t be using the US as something to aspire to! They might have more GDP but that’s at the expense of workers, the environment and everything else.

bafta16 · 12/06/2026 17:19

One word, Thatcher.

Sold everything, made everybody greedy. Paved the way for the Bullington Boys.

TemperanceWest · 12/06/2026 17:19

Welcome to MN OP. Good to see your first thread is a positive one to kick off the weekend with 🥳🍻🎶

BritishMississippi · 12/06/2026 17:16

@BreakingBrokenWe aren’t talking about total GDP we are talking about GDP per capita which is the most widely used proxy for standard of living enabling the comparison of countries of very different sizes.

OP posts:
Eyesopenwideawake · 12/06/2026 17:14

With a birth rate of 1.4 it's only going to get worse (this is common across Europe as well). Less tax revenue to support an increasing retired community.

SinceYoureGayAndAddictedToHeroin · 12/06/2026 17:14

NotAnotherScarf · 12/06/2026 16:56

One word Labour

2010s austerity which destroyed the country's productivity and public services, and didn't even "pay off the debt" as it was supposedly intended to (the debt increased massively).
Whose fault? Tory voters.

Brexit which has cost us hundreds of millions of pounds and yielded none of the claimed benefits.
Whose fault? Brexit voters.

Mishandling of COVID, again to enormous financial cost.
Whose fault? Tory/Brexit voters. ("Boris is a great PM and will get Brexit done")

The "Boris wave" - EU citizens (i.e. net contributors) leave in droves, replaced by people from the developing world and their dependents; immigration triples, just as anyone with any sense warned would happen after Brexit.
Whose fault? Tory/Brexit voters.

Asylum processing system deliberately starved of resources in order to cause the crisis in an attempt to win votes.
Whose fault? Tory/Brexit voters.

Truss mini-budget which virtually crashed the economy and put hundreds of pounds on mortgages?
Whose fault? Tory voters.

Oh no sorry, you're right actually - the long-standing systemic problems of this country have actually been caused entirely by Labour in two years. I was completely wrong.

Never mind though, the same people who did all the above (Tory/Reform/Brexit voters) have the perfect solution in the form of electing Nigel Farage. Wonder who they'll blame when it then all gets even worse? Oh yeah - everybody else, as always.

SerendipityJane · 12/06/2026 17:13

Striveforcompetence · 12/06/2026 17:11

How? Explain how it is labour when the Tories were in charge for over a decade. The financial issues the country is facing are not due to recent crises or recent policy.

Still looking for facts ?

Oliveoy · 12/06/2026 17:13

NotAnotherScarf · 12/06/2026 16:56

One word Labour

Don't be stupid..

BritishMississippi · 12/06/2026 17:12

@NotAnotherScarf The Tories have ruled for 15 out of the last 20 years…I’m not sure how this could be pinned on Labour

OP posts:
BreakingBroken · 12/06/2026 17:12

New York alone is the gdp of the entire country of Canada.

Striveforcompetence · 12/06/2026 17:11

NotAnotherScarf · 12/06/2026 16:56

One word Labour

How? Explain how it is labour when the Tories were in charge for over a decade. The financial issues the country is facing are not due to recent crises or recent policy.

SkippitySkoppity · 12/06/2026 17:09

Some people's determination to ignore the economic catastrophe that is Brexit really is something else. Full on ostrich mode.

BreakingBroken · 12/06/2026 17:09

half of canada is poorer than mississippi BUT that's solely based on gdp and not a reflection of the whole picture.

nettlesandweeds · 12/06/2026 17:07

ofcolitas · 12/06/2026 17:05

make sure your kids are qualified to do the well paying jobs because in 20 years time the middle class will have disappeared and there will just be the haves and have nots.

This 100%

Tryingtokeepgoing · 12/06/2026 17:06

BigYellowBus · 12/06/2026 16:54

One word - Brexit

Doesn’t that depend on the time frame you look at? If you compare today to 10 years ago then Britains growth has been broadly in line with the EU average, and has exceeded Germany, France and Italy. If you look since 2019 then it’s grown by around 1.5% less… but it’s debatable whether 2019 is a sensible baseline surely because decisions would have been impacted in the lead up to the referendum, after the results, during the brexit negotiations and on the final outcome.

Britains real problem continues to be one of GDP per capita, where it has lagged other developed countries, and the public sector in particular has productivity 8% lower today than in 2019.

In terms of GDP vs Mississippi it’s not really surprise…the US GDP per capita has been considerably higher than in the UK and Europe for years - but those countries have a lower cost of living, so it’s all relative. Of course, under the current government things don’t look like improving…

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