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Original poster

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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Original poster
BritishMississippi · 12/06/2026 18:35

the article is in this months issue of the Atlantic. It is not some old internet meme. GDP per capita is an important metric. It’s not the only metric, far from it. BUT it’s been stagnant or in decline for nearly the past 20 years. Even if you emotionally can’t get past the Mississippi comparison surely it’s still very much worth discussing the decline in per capita GDP and how to fix it?

OP posts:
JHound · 12/06/2026 18:35

NotAnotherScarf · 12/06/2026 16:56

One word Labour

Show quote history

Labour have not been in power for most of the last 20 years which is the period of the decline.

OonaStubbs · 12/06/2026 18:33

We need to become a country of can do-ers

And people need to be told that while it's terrible that they are "depressed" and "disabled" it doesn't mean that they don't have to work to support themselves and their families.

bafta16 · 12/06/2026 18:30

ThisBrickBalonz · 12/06/2026 18:28

Yup bringing in millions of people from the third world’s gonna do that!

When is that starting please?

ThisBrickBalonz · 12/06/2026 18:28

Yup bringing in millions of people from the third world’s gonna do that!

TemperanceWest · 12/06/2026 18:22

MellowPoster · 12/06/2026 17:48

@BigYellowBus

One word: debunked,

It was also being said the France is poorer than Mississippi as well, by GDP per Capita

https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/mississippi-richer-than-france-gdp-per-capita

Show quote history

Any thoughts on this @BritishMississippi

FurierTransform · 12/06/2026 18:22

Yes it's a concern. I think the route cause is the socialist and welfare undercurrent, that exists heavily in the UK society and in institutions like the NHS, regardless of what party is in power. It stifles innovation and growth by proxy, and allows people to not do much, and get away with it.

Whammyammy · 12/06/2026 18:21

We have money. We just give it away..

Original poster
BritishMississippi · 12/06/2026 18:18

It hasn’t been debunked. You can argue whether or not there are better measure than GDP per capita or not but if you do use the metric and most economists do then it peaked in 2008 and has been stagnant or in decline since then. We would be foolhardy to ignore it.

OP posts:
fashionqueen0123 · 12/06/2026 18:15

This thread may as well be deleted. This has been on the net for ages and already debunked

Bikenutz · 12/06/2026 18:11

I can’t comment on whether the UK is as poor as Mississippi.

A long line of political mismanagement hasn’t helped. But it’s the short termist, self-focused culture that has led to the politicians we have being voted in had over the years.

Charlize43 · 12/06/2026 18:11

The problem is that politicians seem to be more interested in lining their pockets and increasing their property portfolios rather than addressing the Cost of Living Crisis.

Council Tax goes up 5% and politicians give themselves a 5% pay rise, but the rest of the country won't get a 5% pay rise.

I think politicians salary's should reflect the UK median salary so then they'd have a better idea of what they are dealing with.

bafta16 · 12/06/2026 18:07

IMustDoMoreExercise · 12/06/2026 17:47

Exactly. It was Gordon Brown who started the rot by encouraging everyone to claim benefits instead of lowering taxes for the lower earners.

Once that had started, there was nothing the coalition or the Tories could do.

Show quote history

What?

MellowPoster · 12/06/2026 18:06

TemperanceWest · 12/06/2026 17:47

From the Spectator in 2014

I came across a striking fact while researching this piece: if Britain were to somehow leave the EU and join the US we’d be the 2nd-poorest state in the union. Poorer than Missouri. Poorer than the much-maligned Kansas and Alabama. Poorer than any state other than Mississippi, and if you take out the south east we’d be poorer than that too.

^https://spectator.com/article/why-britain-is-poorer-than-any-us-state-other-than-mississippi/^

At that time, Fraser Nelson described himself as an “ardent Europhile” who later voted to Leave with a heavy heart. In 2014, he had an agenda. Yet later, he fully supported Brexit, stating it had turned out better than he had expected as of May 2026 https://x.com/FraserNelson/status/2056053964840268069. he’s a Scot with a Swedish wife.

As per links I have posted elsewhere, the same claim was being made that France is poorer than Mississippi too. It’s been shown to be a misleading comparison.

Fraser Nelson (@FraserNelson) on X

I voted for Brexit with a heavy heart ten years ago. I was wrong: it has worked out better than I expected. I'll be debating this with Anand Menon and Lara Spirit at The Times on Mon 29 June. Details:- https://t.co/12skr6m1qU

https://x.com/FraserNelson/status/2056053964840268069

blacksax · 12/06/2026 18:03

I've read some monumental propagandist bullshit threads on MN in my time, and this one is right up there with the worst of them.

PonyPatter44 · 12/06/2026 18:02

Fortunately our literacy rate and life expectancy is far, far higher than Mississippi.

MyLimeGuide · 12/06/2026 18:01

LizzieSiddal · 12/06/2026 17:50

Austerity
Brexit
Boris Johnson
Liz Truss
Rachel Reeves.

How people can blame Labour for everything that’s happened over the past, is laughable and shows ignorance of facts.

You missed out a few wars and covid on that list. Labour are in power now and Britain's problems have escalated since.

WonderingWanda · 12/06/2026 18:00

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.

GDP per capital is still a misleading figure because it tells you very little about development and standard of living and can be skewed by one or two examples of private wealth.

HDI is considered to be a more reliable indicator of the overall state of a country as it takes into account wealth, health and education, looking at literacy and death rates. Countries are ranked between 0 and 1, the higher the score the better the levels of development and quality of life.

Missisippi's HDI score is 0.880, overall US is 0.938 and the UK's is the highest at 0.946.

The thing is you can find measures which will tell you anything you want and politicians and the media can manipulate our thinking. I am not saying the UK isn't without it's issues but even articles from more reputable sources will manipulate or omit data to make a point.

Source: Subnational Human Development - Global Data Lab https://share.google/2l1CGR53kHf0iCirN

MyLimeGuide · 12/06/2026 17:57

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

And what about the years before that when labour were in power? Or does that not count?!

Qikiqtarjuaq · 12/06/2026 17:56

Cross posted MellowPoster!

Miyagi99 · 12/06/2026 17:55

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.

That’s because they’re medicated up to the eyeballs to carry on working even if they’re very ill and in pain, they don’t get paid or get sacked otherwise.

Qikiqtarjuaq · 12/06/2026 17:53

This is not true.

GDP per capita is an common comparison, but it fails as a measure in a society where wealth is highly concentrated in a small percentage of the population - like Mississippi. In these cases, extremes of wealth distort the picture, and measures such as the median wealth per individual are more telling.

The 'X country is poorer than Mississippi' has been doing the rounds for some time, and is an eyecatching and emotive headline. Articles such as the one below, however, show why it is not a meaningful statement:

www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/mississippi-richer-than-france-gdp-per-capita

MellowPoster · 12/06/2026 17:52

Bananatr33 · 12/06/2026 17:03

Brexit

Brexit is acting as a gradual, cumulative "slow puncture" on the UK economy. Studies estimate that UK GDP per capita is currently 6--8% lower than it would have been if the UK had remained in the European Union.

Except the claim has also been made that Mississippi is richer than France as well by GDP per capita. But the flaws with this notion have been pointed out

https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/mississippi-richer-than-france-gdp-per-capita

Kbcdtyijgd · 12/06/2026 17:52

Mississippi’s figures are boosted by medical bills, we don’t have that, and we certainly don’t live in trailers in swamps

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