
Britain’s Productivity Decline Is the Worst in 250 Years - adventured
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-03/u-k-s-productivity-depression-is-unparalleled-in-250-years
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lazyjones
What a load of nonsense. Britain created many low wage jobs and decreased
unemployment, of course the average "output" per hour will stagnate. The
productivity of the country has increased dramatically though if formerly
unemployed people now have jobs.

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tonyedgecombe
Unemployment is very low (45 year low if I recall correctly). However the
productivity of the nation as a whole hasn't increased dramatically, GDP
growth has been anaemic in recent years.

Having said that I'd rather we had low productivity than the problems some of
the Southern European countries have had with high youth unemployment.

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TheOtherHobbes
Unemployment isn't low. The figures are massaged with Orwellian precision to
give that impression. But they're dishonest and frankly manipulative to an
almost Soviet level.

The official ONS definition - which anyone can check on the ONS site - counts
anyone who works _one hour a week_ as employed.

The figures also include anyone who is self-employed for tax purposes, whether
or not they have any income from work.

If we used 1970s metrics, where employment was defined as having a full-time
job that comfortably covered basic living expenses, unemployment would be
running at absolutely terrifying levels.

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tonyedgecombe
_counts anyone who works one hour a week as employed_

As I said elsewhere underemployment has been falling as well.

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adgasf
If that's how they measure employment, how do they measure underemployment?!

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adelHBN
It boggles the mind why they went through with Brexit! Seriously.

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hhas01
Because it’s easier to blame Others for not being the centre of the universe
any more, than to man up and do something about it. Lazy, nihilistic, CBF,
post-Empire shitehole. What a sick, sad waste of potential.

~~~
refurb
Yeah, completely crazy to want your own self-determination.

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zelos
I never really understand the special status given to national sovereignty. We
all give up some control in a democratic system, from the local level upwards.
Why is there some special status for the national level? What is it that’s so
bad about giving up some control at that level as part of a greater system?

~~~
dageshi
When you no longer really believe (or never did believe) in one of the
fundamental pillars of the EU e.g. ever closer union.

If you don't believe in that then it's your duty to leave and let those that
do continue forwards with an ever closer union.

The UK joined really hoping to push the EU more towards a confederation which
it would've felt comfortable in, the whole "working from the inside" thing
that people are always saying is the best way to influence the EU. But
ultimately a majority of the rest of the EU wants much closer integration than
the UK would've ever been comfortable with... so here we are.

