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
As anyone who’s studied even a minimum of science, the phrase ‘the science is settled’ is not spoken by any real scientist, and these are the words of our energy secretary. He has found his cause and he thinks he’s going to save the world, a real zealot, with power – very dangerous.
Now we have 2TK blaming Putin and Trump for our high energy prices. Perhaps if we used what is already ours, from under the north sea, and found a way to pay long term fixed prices (as most nations with resourcrs do), we might have reasonable energy costs.
April 10, 2026
Is he really a deluded mad zealot or is he a deliberate vandal and enemy of the UK?
So Starmer is sick of Putin and Trump making fosil fuel prices go up and down. Is he sick of Miliband (and May plus our largely energy and climae illiterate MPs ) making our energy costs four times those of the US with Net Zero then? When is Ed going to be fired or sent to a sanitorium?
April 10, 2026
Prosperity doesn’t figure in this governments calculations. The entire income tax take is shelled out on welfare. This is unsustainable.
Milibrain will be cock a hoop because AI are pulling out of investing as with the projected £17.5 billion in the North Sea.
Milibrain us neither mad or bad just following in his Marxist upbringing. His father fled to England and hated us.
April 10, 2026
I think Miliband is more of a do as I say, not do as I do person.
April 10, 2026
Like Starmer and King Charles then. As Prime Minister, Keir Starmer’s international travel has cost taxpayers over £700,000 just in his first three months!
April 10, 2026
LL:
Whilst there are CAGW/Net Zero believers who are “dim and deluded”, Ed Miliband is not one of them. Like his father he is a Marxist and knows full well that CAGW is a scam and that his policies will sabotage our energy and economy and consequently destroy our national security. It is not even necessary to know or understand “the science” to realise that burning fossil fuels and even increasing atmospheric CO2 whether from anthropogenic or natural sources will not cause a climate catastrophe with boiling oceans etc.. It is only necessary look up and read the history of CO2 and climate over the last 500m years. Table 12 in Chapter 12 of the UN IPCC’s Working Group 1 (“The Science”) Report shows no signals for climate change (precipitation, droughts and storms) other than some mild warming which UAH satellite data since 1979 shows to be 0.14 degrees C per decade. And the UN only puts Climate Action at #13 in its list of sustainable goals.
April 10, 2026
Evil or Mad and I will give him the benefit of the doubt and go for mad/deluded.
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
We can be proud of our Judges and their unimpeachable wisdom and sense of justice. Can’t we?
April 10, 2026
Not so much of their grasp of basic A level maths probabilities though – as we saw with Sally Clark and the two cot deaths. It even took her two appeals!
April 10, 2026
How stupid was the victim so be careless carrying around such a valuable item?
The egg still has not been recovered.
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.
April 10, 2026
@Mark B. Yes. I’m no economist but I was going to make a similar point.
Under this measure we are at $56k and China $15k. Yet our cities and infrastructure are falling apart, and China’s (by travellers’ accounts) are astonishing. We have lost our industrial capacity, they clearly have not.
It makes me question the utility of this measure (GDP per head), certainly as an indicator of wellbeing, life quality or state of economic advancement. What is its value?
April 10, 2026
GDP is clearly not everything. GDP per capita in PPP perhaps the best measure but so many other things matter crime rates, road quality, housing quality, the legal system, healthcare, free speech and freedom of choice…
If my wife works and I employ a nanny for my children it increases GDP significantly but if I do not and my wife looks after them herself no increase in GDP but society can actually be better off this way. Similarly if you run an old car, fix it yourself and do you own diy and gardening rather than employing people then GDP is lower but now real effect on living standards or happiness levels. Indeed they prob. rise. Saves load of taxes too. If your wife earns £100,000 to pay a Nanny say £40,000 so she can work about £80k in total goes in tax, NI employer & employee. So make little economic sense unless you just far prefer your job to looking after your children!
April 10, 2026
The UK has perhaps the worst of all worlds – very high taxes & very poorly spent, energy costs the highest in the world, high and increasing crime rates, poor roads covered in potholes, a very poor healthcare system, a poor and expensive justice system, an open door to low skilled and often proble causing and criminal immigrants, a largely anarcho-tyranny system of justice & government, attacks of free speech and three more years of Labour still to go.
April 10, 2026
GDP is meaningless, it’s per capita that matters and that is reducing year on year
April 10, 2026
Per cap and adjusted for purchasing power parity!
April 10, 2026
Well said. As Oscar Wilde said, ‘you can know the price of everything but the value of nothing!’
Looking at this, I think the UK is best place to live (for so many reasons!). Followed by rest of Europe (great weather, food, old buildings, good healthcare). Australia, NZ etc. Vietnam / Thailand etc. Chile, Argentina etc. Morocco, Turkey, Kenya etc. Followed by China (average person can live quite well in peace and comfort and still lots of traditional values). India (lots of poverty sadly etc but some srill great places to live). Singapore (good quality of life but boring – like Franfurt!). Dubai (lots of comfort but quite vulgar and predictable way of life). Then USA (quite a crazy place to live). And finally Russia (just really corrupt) and the really poor and corrupt countries around world just too stressful to live in.
So UK deffo at top. And USA, Followed by Russia, at bottom.
April 10, 2026
Price is what you pay and value is what you get. For government in the UK price is huge value is usually zero or even negative.
Price of US Moon mission £60 billion value cerca zero,
Price of UK covid lockdown and Vaccines £600 Bn – value about negative £1 trillion.
Price of Net Zero circa £1 trillion so for (in the UK) value circa minuus £3 trillion!
Value of our two duff aircraft carriers surely negative too.
April 10, 2026
Lifelogic,
I agree with most things you say but you’re missing the overall point about price versus value! It’s much bigger than politics (important as politics is). If life was all about politics, then life in the UK, with Labour, would be a nightmare. But what’s great about the UK is so much more than politics! And no amount of money would induce me to live anywhere else (I’d much rather eat fish and chips with a good ale and the rain pouring and sky grey and listening to two people moaning away about something but in an amusing, charming way – than eat in some fancy posh restaurant in tax-free Monaco and the sun shining down with a big yacht in the background – that all gets boring after a while ..).
April 10, 2026
The trouble with this list and averages is that the money is not in the hands of the people but in the hands of increasingly insatiable governments.
Ireland is on fire – the pathetic, greedy, rogue, anti-Irish government is driving the people into bankruptcy.
They have entered the 4th day of blockade, what amounts to a General Strike. The Army has been called out by the Government, using threats and terrorist tactics.
The Irish have been up all night and the protests hold. Peaceful apart from the Gardai arresting individuals here and there when they can.
They say they are not afraid because their army is the biggest.
They say the Irish want their country back! I know the feeling well.
The North will be next and then Scotland, which literally means ‘the land of the Irish’.
Starmer needs to back down fast or the whole of Britain will unite against the authorities who demand that we hand our homeland, people and figure to aliens.
The Irish people are making their mark as the British did in June 2016.
We MUST all stand together once again, and win.
April 10, 2026
Yes, interesting that the British MSM is hardly reporting on the Irish fuel protests.
I wonder if they’re under instructions from the Government, for fear of triggering copycat protests in the UK?
April 10, 2026
The BBC (now that they think they can blame high energy costs on Trump) do seem to have had sereral items on how high energy cost are do damaging to farming, industry, fertilisers, transport indeed everything. But they were the ones for 20 plus years pushing climate alarmism and net zero which gives us energy at 4 times the cost did this not occur to them then? No only when they can blame in on Trump. How is his libel action against the dire BBC going!
April 10, 2026
GDP per head is misleading as it is buying power per head that needs to take account of taxes and especially the cost of living that really counts- the cost of living in most of the highest GDP countries (e.g.Norway, Switzerland and Iceland) is notoriously expensive with the U.S.A. being an exception whereas the cost of living in some low income countries(such as Brazil at least was and India is for living essentials) is low. That is what really matters for people and that would produce a rather different picture of real living standards in each country.
April 10, 2026
A huge problem is that people in countries that send large immigrants to UK like Pakistan are told that the UK is the land of Milk and Honey. The UK is a great country if you’re British and got money and being established here for a while. Otherwise I wouldn’t dream of coming here at all. I’d rather remain in Pakistan. Where I’m off travelling soon. Pakistan is like PARADISE with its Fairy Meadows (Nanga Parbat), Karakoram Highway (and the famous Cones mountains), the trek to K2, Skardu and all the villages with their apricot orchards. And places such as Lahore. And where communities know each other and help each other out and family-minded and wonderful old traditions.
The Pakistani media lie telling their people the UK is land of milk and honey. And the Western media lie telling its readers that Pakistan is a dreadful, backward country without culture and really dangerous (it’s a bit dangerous but I’ve been travelling all over that part of the world and if you’re sensible it’s fine – compared to London where I once walked pass teenagers with knives and quickly ran after the police for help. I still love London, though!).
Uncontrolled immigration does NOT work. It’s bad for the native population who end up paying for it. And it’s bad for the immigrants who end up homesick and who might enjoy more, to a degree, material prosperity but at a great cost in terms of leaving all their culture and family and friends behind.
April 10, 2026
Lastly, you can’t mix cultures (at least it takes centuries and much upheaval to get there).
The British culture in Britain is just GREAT.
But so is the Pakistani culture in Pakistan just GREAT.
And the Taj Mahal (India) is the most beautiful building I’ve ever seen (I was frankly amazed when I saw it). But it only looks beautiful in India. It would just look out of place if it were located in Stonehenge instead ..!
It’s NOT about thinking our culture is better and other people’s culture is worse. But rather respecting both and not trying to impose one over the other. And to think that grass is greener on the other side (which is why so many immigrants want to come here).
Perhaps we need to invest more money in countries where all these immigrants are coming from so they want to stay in their countries more. I don’t know. We can’t really afford to do that. But it might be cheaper than paying for all the immigration that is flooding our borders.
April 10, 2026
The most depressing feature of these statistics, is the governments refusal to do anything positive to change the so called ‘progressive’ direction of travel.
The data shows us a continuing decline in GDP/capita. We are becoming ever poorer personally and ever more debt laden as each year progresses. With those damning facts out there for all to see, why do the authorities in charge of the national direction of travel continue to progress the negative policies such as Net Zero and ever more Woke alignment policies?
Our defence forces have been instructed by the Attorney General Hermer not to board threatening Russian vessels or vessels sanctioned for carrying war provisions without first issuing a warrant authorised under International law.
This ban on boarding suspect enemy ships makes naval patrols pointless. I suspect that is what Hermer and his boss Starmer want. Their determination to align the UK with the EU in all things is driving national security out of the window along with our national defence capability, and our past alignment with our key ally the USA.
We have got to stop these mad men out as soon as the political system allows.
April 10, 2026
It’s the duty of government to jettison us into this top group.
Back in the day, innovation in the form of jet engine, radar, transistor, TV, hovercraft when coupled with US investment brought our ideas to the market.
How do we get back to that?
1 Replace the immigrants we have with the immigrants we need.
2 Meritocratic education system.
3 Tax system to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship. Reduce benefits and public sector/non productive jobs by 50% to pay for it.
4 Encourage outside investment to propel our ideas into home grown companies or JVs.
It’s the opposite of what’s happening.
April 10, 2026
The British Establishment is delivering the UN objective of “levelling down.” It won’t be long before we reach 2nd world status, on a par with the likes of Bulgaria and Albania.
April 10, 2026
Seems so, and with rather worse weather.
April 10, 2026
You could live in Monaco but so many there divorced so the tax man might not have got your money but your cheating ex has in the law courts. And Monaco a bit boring too like Dubai.
The UK still easily comes out top best country in world to live in people should just be happier to live here (plus life is just too short to complain and moan instead of being happy with what we’ve got)! Despite our problems. Other countries have theirs (and theirs overall greater / much greater). But grass is not greener on other side.
Good old Britain!
April 10, 2026
“The UK still easily comes out top best country in world to live in”.
Well perhaps if you want to live of the backs of other, on benefits paid by others, have your phone stolen regularly, be jailed for tweets, see shoplifting every day. Or your work and have to give nearly all you money to the state to pay.
I rather like Monaco, Switzerland, Portugal, Channel Islands, IoM and parts of Italy. Plenty of good tax deals can be done now in these places and indeed many others. The UK seems determined to kick out high taxpayers with their doom loop tax , waste and over regulate agenda!
April 10, 2026
‘Well perhaps if you want to live of the backs of other, on benefits paid by others, have your phone stolen regularly, be jailed for tweets, see shoplifting every day. Or your work and have to give nearly all you money to the state to pay’ – Lifelogic. I agree with you. Awful things happen here. But you just focus on the negatives. You never focus on why the UK is the best place in the world to live in (and the UK is about far, far more than politics – important as politics is).
Personally, I’d feel like in prison in Monaco. Switzerland is just sooo expensive (fine if you’re born there). Italy is charming but it’s NOT home.
‘Plenty of good tax deals can be done now in these places and indeed many others’ – I agree, look after your money. Of course. But I know so many people who so focused on money and tax that they’ve forgotten how to live and be happy (not insinuating you – I don’t know you – but I know other people).
Come back to UK sir! We need your brains (seriously – I don’t want brain drain)!
April 10, 2026
Not much green grass in Monaco I agree but a safe place, good connections, nice climate, lovely views, low crime and no income taxes to pay. You do not have to stay there all the time. Holiday homes in France and Italy perhaps.
April 10, 2026
Being married to a Canadian, I’ve spent a lot of time in Ontario and BC over the years (and in the US on business). Our sons have dual nationality (and Canadian passports) so could move there without too much trouble, apart from the general upheaval of such an event. They don’t plan to but it’s a useful option to have these days.
However, I’ve recently wondered whether all those decades ago, we should have started our married life in Canada rather than here in the UK. Nowhere is perfect of course but I think Canada has a lot going for it ( and Donald Trump seems to agree with me). We have had a good life here in UK but we often reflect that we’ve had the best of times. I worry about whether our Grandchildren will be as fortunate.
April 10, 2026
@EdM. If the weather here would only be better then happiness would be assured. Tow us to a latitude where winters are a bit shorter.
April 10, 2026
Lastly, how successful a country is doing should reflect what makes a good marriage.
Happy marriages based on 2 x kept points.
1) How secure the couple feel together
2) How alive the couple feel together.
They might feel financially secure (like a country with high GDP but that also works in their favour as opposed to a few billionaires such as in Russia) but they also have to make each other feel alive that has nothing to do with money (like a country that has an interesting culture, friendly and charming neighbours, peaceful and non-crazy environment in general, lots of interesting green spaces, and so on, food health service in general, easy to buy a house, population is patriotic, low crime, low corruption etc, strong arts scene. Where people work well together like honey bees as opposed to wasps or rats destroying everything as they grasp for themselves – excessive individualism)
April 10, 2026
“Low tax rates, plenty of cheap energy” are the starters for growth and a healthy economy. A pity then, that the Chancellor and PM et al, do not understand how markets work.
What is it with socialists? They seem to think that all businesses flourish even when over-taxed and overcharged on their direct costs. Without businesses, there would be no tax income and v.high unemployment. Even I, as a layman, know this, so why don’t the “experts” in Whitehall and Westminster?
April 10, 2026
GDP is most commonly calculated taking into account household spending minus business investment plus government ‘services’ expenditure and then exports minus imports.
As UK household expenditure is largely increasing through taxes, duties and green energy plus now administration of taxation 5 tines pa, investment in Buy to Let is collapsing and business is reducing investment because of tax and regulation, this is not looking good for GDP.
Government investment will include the subsidies for wind and solar plus the untried carbon capture, the hydrogen centres, presumably the increase I HMRC staff for Digital Tax ‘customers’, the NHS splurge, the ministries for rewinding, the Ajax troop carrier that makes troops ill, the frigates with the wrong engines, making g the aircraft carriers work, the accommodation and goodies for irregulars and the extra taxi boats, the giveaways for foreigners in penance for giving them modern stuff like buildings and clothes, but not apparently the increases in welfare. This counts as money transfer from wealthy working families to those that can’t work. I am not sure where big electric cars for people with disabling depression comes in.
The cost of exports over imports can’t be helped by industries closing and farming reducing or the imports of electricity and LNG instead of our own gas. And of course foreigners will need less legal services and insurance because it will be done by AI.
My forecast is that British GDP is not going to benefit ordinary workers and families in work and that if worked out honestly it will fall.
April 10, 2026
Too much ‘old’ Lord John and too many cooks spoiling the broth.
We might start with Houses of Parliament, just sell them off, make a tolerable hotel or Harry Potter theme park. Rebuild smaller in Norfolk say. Get rid of most of Lords and cut Commons by half. Put a heavy tax on the ‘Heritage’ industry to discourage so much of it. Encourage the New, Brash and Vulgar.
In the HoC cellars are thousands of old wills. Sell them on eBay, do not allow a new archive to be created – more of the ‘old’ industry wasting our resources and money. Just flog them off. Similar with the cellars of the British Museum, flog it off and plan for fewer archivists, archeologists and historians.
Cut back the British Standards Institute. Have your seen their new rules on house window sizes. The word ‘NO’ is needed – but politicians dare not say NO because it creates unpopularity and creates a stick with which to beat politicians (good). Create the presumption that planning permission will be allowed. If I have land to sell I get a pittance without planning, a fortune with and the quick alternative is to sell to the travellers. They give a good price.
April 10, 2026
Lord Redwood, your analysis says it all. Some countries want their nations and people to thrive and prosper. Others follow the WEF Marxists direction of destroy, destroy, destroy.
The UK Parliament is made up of the destroyers of societies, they go out of their way to destroy, force dependency and encourage entitlement, so as to shape a compliant population that bows down to their own personal image – the new enslavement.
April 10, 2026
Ed M, agree with all your comments. I lived in Europe for 44 years and returned to the UK 12 years ago. Things have radically changed here, it’s no longer the 50’s or 60′ but still a great place to live. We just need some decent leadership.
April 10, 2026
It’s not all about money – UK and EU social well-being is more important with access to health facilities doctors, and education to third level for those so inclined then also better political accountability – I knew America in the 60’s 70’s 80’s visiting very often from Ireland it was a grand place then but if you asked me – would I like to go visit today? No! Not for all the tea in China.
April 10, 2026
Wholly agree.
I would also add that we are held back because our politicians and commentators publicly compare our performance with mainland European countries to the exclusion of all others.
This gives a deliberately false perception that assists those in power to present a positive narrative on their performance.
Turkeys never vote for Christmas and the politicians are supported by an ecosystem that is dependent on their largesse and grace.
April 10, 2026
With the BBC being the most dependent as the current charter negotiations show.
April 10, 2026
Apparently the PM has said that “we should not be at the mercy of events abroad” but by his many and varied actions and deeds this is precisely the outcome he seeks. Is he a bit thick?
April 10, 2026
Does any one know how this scans with reality ?
“The Defence Secretary talked up Starmer’s role in changing Britain’s posture at the London Defence Conference:
“I thought that was a really important speech um and a very important sort of declaration of first duty and first principle from the PM. I think you saw it amplified when he made his Munich Security Conference speech a month or so ago, where he said that hard power is the currency of the age. Where he said that we know that we must spend more faster on defence, and the the personal commitment that he has made to leading the reset of relations with crucial allies.”
https://order-order.com/2026/04/10/healey-starmer-went-to-the-gulf-to-scope-discussions-on-iran/
First duty? To keep us all safe and secure? His and his Parliament aim is destruction, destruction destruction – so a fail
April 10, 2026
More from Guido
The Tony Blair Institute has staged yet another rare intervention against Miliband’s Net Zero fantasy, with a new report accusing him of being too “ideological” and urging the government to approve the drilling of the Jackdaw gas field and the Rosebank oilfield. This is the fourth time in a year that Blair has criticised Labour over Net Zero…
The report, endorsed by Blair himself, says:
“…the UK debate remains too ideological, with the government focused on decarbonising power supply only and the opposition on expanding domestic oil and gas.
“Neither confronts the central challenge: only around a fifth of UK energy demand is currently met through electricity, leaving the wider economy heavily dependent on fossil fuels”
Miliband’s friendly profile in the New Statesman last month revealed he keeps in regular contact with Gordon Brown… but not so much Blair. Old habits…
https://order-order.com/2026/04/10/blair-backs-new-oil-and-gas-drilling-in-latest-net-zero-attack/
What a turn up! Tony Blair siding with John Redwood?
April 10, 2026
“They are de industrialising rapidly as their penal self harming net zero policies destroy once great engineering, vehicle, steel, glass, ceramics, textile, petrochemical and other industries.”
Led by the FT who reported on Good Friday that “more than 65 leading UK scientists” had signed an open letter, published as a Google Doc, urging the Government to abandon new North Sea oil and gas drilling in favour of renewables. The most interesting two sentences in this document reads: “We will soon exceed the ambitious 1.5°C Paris goal. Any overshoot pushes our climate further out of balance, threatening catastrophic tipping points, including ones that could plunge the UK into a much colder climate in which we would struggle even to grow our own food.” This prediction simply covers all scenarios, global boiling, ice ages and includes multiple tipping points if nothing happens when any are reached. They clearly haven’t a clue and it’s simply a scam. There always has and always will be climate change but the level of atmospheric levels of CO2 is not the main driver.