Low tax rates, plenty of cheap energy, and a welcome for innovation and technology are three essentials for fast growth, high productivity and high per capita incomes. The present UK government in going for higher taxes, dearer energy and EU levels of restriction on business innovation has turned its back on growth and success.
The top group in the world GDP per head league comprises Luxembourg ($145,000) , Switzerland ($116,000), Ireland ($110,000) , Singapore ($97,000), Iceland ($94,000), US ($92,000) and Norway ($90,000) . Two of these are EU members, Luxembourg and Ireland, who have got away with very low corporate tax rates attracting plenty of international financial and technology business to book profits with them. Switzerland and Singapore have also made themselves attractive business, investment and financial centres. Norway has used oil, gas and hydro energy to build a national wealth fund out of the revenues. The US has combined cheap fossil fuel energy leapfrogging to be the world’s largest oil and gas producer, with dominance in the digital revolution creating the nine largest quoted corporations worldwide.
The Europeans along with Japan and South Korea create a middle grouping. The EU’s GDP per head is now less than half the US, with Korea about to overtake it, and with Japan around the same level. Germany ($60,000) and the UK ($56,000) lead this group with Greece as low as $26,000 . Spain ($38,000) , Italy ($43,000) , France ($51,000) share the group’s slow growth characteristics. The EU members and the UK are held back by dear energy, over regulation, and a failure to create conditions where home grown technology businesses can flourish and grow into world scale companies. This group of countries is falling further and further behind the US, with a few Asian exceptions like Taiwan and South Korea.
China and Russia on $15,000 hover just above the world average of $14,000. Mexico ($14,000), Brazil ($11,000), South Africa ($7,000) and India ($3,000) help keep the world average low. China is now growing at around 5% per annum and India faster. Over this century to date the US has grown twice as fast as the EU. The UK seeking closer ties with the EU is linking itself eveer more firmly to a proven slow growth or ,no growth model. EU economies are digital colonies of the great US corporations. They are de industrialising rapidly as their penal self harming n et zero policies destroy once great engineering, vehicle, steel, glass, ceramics, textile, petrochemical and other industries.
April 10, 2026
“turned its back on growth and success” rather worse than that it is actively at war anything that creates growth.
Reported yesterday – OpenAI has paused its major “Stargate” data center project in the UK, citing high energy costs and an unfavorable regulatory environment.
So is Miliband really so dim and deluded that he actually believes in what he preaches? If not what are his real motives for destroying the UK’s economy and defence & freezing pensioners. It might have been a small vote winner once I suppose (with the deluded “BBC think” & Greta types but now it is surely a massive vote loser and economic vandalism.
In short is Miliband mad or bad or both – no other explanations surely?
April 10, 2026
Luxembourg ($145,000) , Switzerland ($116,000) figures are rather exaggerated by people working in the countries but not actually living there and so not counted in the per cap division. Ireland ($110,000) by large companies shifting profits to head offices located this low Corp. tax area.
April 10, 2026
Man jailed for stealing handbag that contained £2.2m Fabergé egg and watch sentenced to 27 months in prison. Yet three court of appeal judges thought 31 months for Lucy Connolly’s very temporary and insignificant tweet said:-
“For the reasons which we have explained, there is no arguable basis on which it could
be said that the sentence imposed by the judge was manifestly excessive. The
application for leave to appeal against sentence therefore fails and is refused.”
Six other turn down the right to appeal Lucy Letby’s obviously unsafe all 15 convictions. Not even one of the 15 it seems justified an appeal these learned judges decided!
April 10, 2026
Good morning.
I am always sceptical when comparing countries as not all are the same. One should not look at one set of figures and say that that makes them better off. For example. If a country has an economy more based on agriculture which is highly variable / risk then growth will be slower but, unlike a manufacturing country producing high end goods, we all need to eat. So that economy is more sustainable.
As we have seen in the UK, GDP is not everything.