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Sustainable Economy > Published by Daniel Elton, November 28th 2011 at 6:25 pm

UK growth – bottom of the table, wallowing with the PIGS

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The government would like to have you believe that Britain is slipping into recession as part of the global slowdown, and our contracting growth has little to do with conditions inside our country.

Yet, among developed countries, UK  growth has been far behind most of our competitors. Among this morning’s output from the OECD was an estimate of British growth for 2011 of a meagre 0.9%. The only European countries that produced less growth according to the organisation than the UK are so-called PIGS – Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain:

The PIGS were ’honoured’ by financial analysts with a shared acronym due to their common problems with debt. But the UK still managed to come behind Ireland (1.2%), that was briefly included in the PIGS and such economic powerhouses as Iceland (2.9%).

Meanwhile, the dead hand of the state appears to have been somewhat kind in red tape-bound France (1.6%) and Finland (3%). Someone tell Steve Hilton and Vince Cable.

See also:

• We’ve got the wrong sort of growth – a fall in real GDP looks inevitable – Tony Dolphin, November 24th 2011

• Osborne should change course next Tuesday, but he won’t – Tony Dolphin and Adam Lent, November 23rd 2011

• UK not performing too well in the GDP growth championship – Ann Pettifor, November 17th 2011

• New LSE report says Labour’s economic record was “strong” and “not due to bubbles” – Will Straw, November 15th 2011

• Osborne has put Britain in an economic death spiral: Here’s how to break out – William Bain MP, November 14th 2011

  • Anonymous

    Estonia – Flat rate of tax at 22%

    Lots of growth.

    The lesson endeth here.

  • http://twitter.com/LabourHame LabourHame

    Iceland didn’t bail out its banks and has been recovering well. Something they don’t talk about much….

  • Mr. Sensible

    More evidence of the right trying to see fareness as a problem, to cover for the fact that austerity doesn’t work.

  • http://twitter.com/bigagh/status/141292390832013312 AGH

    RT @FalseEcon: CHART: UK growth, bottom of the table, wallowing w/the PIGS http://t.co/TIEshDw4 writes @danielelton

  • http://twitter.com/wdjstraw/status/141297160204460034 Will Straw

    News today from OECD looks even worse in a chart: UK bottom of the table, wallowing with the PIGS: http://t.co/P9gT1MZn (via @DanielElton)

  • http://twitter.com/eugene_grant/status/141297455902892032 Eugene Grant

    RT @leftfootfwd: UK growth – bottom of the table, wallowing with the PIGS http://t.co/MYAoG5h5

  • http://twitter.com/jimpknight/status/141298082234109952 Jim Knight

    News today from OECD looks even worse in a chart: UK bottom of the table, wallowing with the PIGS: http://t.co/P9gT1MZn (via @DanielElton)

  • http://twitter.com/ibrahim_dogus/status/141298106485579776 ibrahim dogus

    News today from OECD looks even worse in a chart: UK bottom of the table, wallowing with the PIGS: http://t.co/P9gT1MZn (via @DanielElton)

  • http://twitter.com/toadmeister Toby Young

    You’ve neglected to point out that the OECD is also predicting higher growth in the UK than the European average in 2012 and in 2013 a higher level of growth than France and almost the same level of growth as Germany.

  • http://twitter.com/pascale_palmer/status/141300174919184384 Pascale Palmer

    News today from OECD looks even worse in a chart: UK bottom of the table, wallowing with the PIGS: http://t.co/P9gT1MZn (via @DanielElton)

  • http://twitter.com/oxkev Oxford Kevin

    Estonia, even with its recent high growth is still further below its pre-recession gdp than the uk. Was the 22% flat tax also the cause of its massive economic slump.

  • http://twitter.com/oxkev Oxford Kevin

    Estonia, even with its recent high growth is still further below its pre-recession gdp than the uk. Was the 22% flat tax also the cause of its massive economic slump.

  • http://twitter.com/abeneplacito84/status/141306054444195840 Warren O’Keefe

    News today from OECD looks even worse in a chart: UK bottom of the table, wallowing with the PIGS: http://t.co/P9gT1MZn (via @DanielElton)

  • http://twitter.com/oxkev Oxford Kevin

    The OECD has consistently overestimated UK growth and underestimated German growth in its predictions.

  • http://twitter.com/extraditiongame/status/141337254705639424 Extradition Game

    CHART: UK growth, bottom of the table, wallowing w/the PIGS: http://t.co/5jB2zL9t writes @danielelton #TheOsborneEffect #Lostrecovery

  • http://twitter.com/chaostocosmos/status/141427463250124800 Pamela Heywood

    UK growth – bottom of the table, wallowing with the PIGS http://t.co/aY5Bbsxh

  • http://twitter.com/Newsbot9 Newsbot9

    I predict they’re wrong. This is a sucker bet, of course, given they keep getting it wrong.

  • http://twitter.com/antony_daniels/status/141442526124048385 Antony Daniels

    A major reason why Osborne's hands are tied is because UK growth has been so poor compared to similar economies: http://t.co/SIf8mp3I #as11

  • http://twitter.com/adpucci/status/141458782789177345 Pucci D

    A major reason why Osborne's hands are tied is because UK growth has been so poor compared to similar economies: http://t.co/SIf8mp3I #as11

  • http://twitter.com/mcmlxxvi_ad/status/141464834599419904 Jamie

    UK growth – bottom of the table, wallowing with the PIGS http://t.co/Fj13KBJB #Osborne

  • http://twitter.com/deludeddonny/status/141466698061590528 DeludedDonny

    UK growth – bottom of the table, wallowing with the PIGS http://t.co/Fj13KBJB #Osborne

  • http://politicalscrapbook.net/2011/11/osborne-autumn-statement-2011/ What Osborne doesn’t want you to know about the Autumn statement | Political Scrapbook

    [...] revise unemployment forecasts up, as well as revising its growth forecasts down.UK growth is at the bottom of the table, alongside the crisis-hit PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain) and disaster-hit Japan.With [...]

  • http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/12/look-left-02-12-11/ Look Left – Does Labour need its own Plan B? | Left Foot Forward

    [...] there’s also the latest OECD Economic Outlook, which shows sluggish Britain languishing behind the world (more on this in Evidence of the Week [...]

  • http://twitter.com/igcuigeuladh/status/142940970500108288 Mark Meredith

    The govt would like you to believe Britain is slipping into recession as part of the global slowdown… http://t.co/M3v8WRQj

  • http://twitter.com/markashberry/status/142941253540134912 Cllr Mark Ashberry

    #bestoftheweek #4: UK growth – bottom of the table, wallowing with the PIGS
    http://t.co/5jB2zL9t

  • http://twitter.com/extraditiongame/status/142946107981443072 Extradition Game

    RT @leftfootfwd: #bestoftheweek #4: UK growth – bottom of the table, wallowing with the PIGS
    http://t.co/9DGZr0R6 #NewsClub

  • http://www.leftfootforward.org/2012/01/us-grew-almost-twice-as-fast-as-uk-in-2011/ US grew almost twice as fast as UK in 2011 | Left Foot Forward

    [...] UK growth – bottom of the table, wallowing with the PIGS - Daniel Elton, November 28th [...]