US grew almost twice as fast as UK in 2011

New figures out today show that the US economy grew by 0.7 per cent in the last quarter compared to a contraction of 0.2 per cent in the UK. The final figures for 2011 put to bed Treasury spin from the autumn that the UK was doing as well as the US.

Barack-Obama-Gideon-Osborne On the morning of the last US GDP figures in November, ITN’s Laura Kuenssberg tweeted:

“Treasury sources say UK grown at same rate as US so far in 2011″

As I blogged at the time, this was only true because of the boost to GDP in Q1 caused by the added economic activity following heavy snow at the end of 2010. With full 2011 figures out for both countries, we now know that while the UK grew 0.9 per cent last year, the US grew by 1.7 per cent.

Indeed, while the UK economy has contracted in three of the last five quarters and may already be in a double-dip recession, the US economy has not contracted since the second quarter of 2009.

The US has taken a slower approach to deficit reduction than the UK with cuts only starting to bite in 2013.

And while George Osborne has blamed the eurozone for the latest downturn, research by the House of Commons library has shown that it was only trade that ensured the economy was growing at all in 2011. Surely now it’s time for Osborne to accept the need for a Plan B.

See also:

• Growth revision shows economic recovery is off track - Tony Dolphin, January 9th 2012

• UK growth – bottom of the table, wallowing with the PIGS - Daniel Elton, November 28th 2011

• UK set for among slowest growth in EU - Will Straw, November 11th 2011

• UK growth down as IMF warn deficit reduction should not be at the expense of growth - Shamik Das, October 5th 2011

• No growth? ‘Keep calm and carry on’ says Osborne – Ben Fox, October 4th 2011

http://twitter.com/ljonesy70/status/162942185803743235 lillian jones

RT @leftfootfwd: US grew almost twice as fast as UK in http://t.co/4qKeaQyj
http://twitter.com/patronpress/status/162942722385260546 Patron Press – #P2

#UK : US grew almost twice as fast as UK in 2011 http://t.co/veAhRnqH
http://twitter.com/jamesmills1984/status/162942786008662016 James Mills

US grew almost twice as fast as UK in 2011 reports @wdjstraw http://t.co/l3qCXcsQ
http://twitter.com/mattbates25/status/162943800841478144 Matthew Bates

Stimulus helps then.. UK #5pointplan needed now. RT @leftfootfwd: US grew almost twice as fast as UK in 2011 reports http://t.co/a3BpIhzR"
http://twitter.com/labour52rose/status/162944997237342208 Alex Braithwaite

RT @leftfootfwd: US grew almost twice as fast as UK in 2011 http://t.co/zKSGHSF7
http://twitter.com/leftlinks/status/162947889914580993 leftlinks

Left Foot Forward – US grew almost twice as fast as UK in 2011 http://t.co/fsDRk40a
http://twitter.com/sph1984/status/162949514225917952 Simon P. Hughes

US grew almost twice as fast as UK in 2011 reports @wdjstraw http://t.co/l3qCXcsQ
http://twitter.com/josiahmortimer/status/162955777814966272 Josiah Mortimer

US grew almost twice as fast as UK in 2011 reports @wdjstraw http://t.co/l3qCXcsQ
Steve Murphy

It’s no surprise that the US economy grew much more than ours. After all, they didn’t have Brown making a complete bollocks of their economy for 13 years. We’ll be paying for his extravagance and waste into the next century
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2012/01/look-left-27-01-12/ Look Left – The hate-filled Right hone in on their next target: Disabled people | Left Foot Forward

[...] picture, data today reveals the US grew nearly twice as fast as the UK in 2011, as Will Straw explains: “New figures out today show that the US economy grew by 0.7 per cent in the last quarter [...]
awake!

wow, a whole 0.8% more!! and only 15 trillion in debt!!
Mr. Sensible

More evidence of the need to change course…
http://twitter.com/robertcp/status/163029480384892928 Robert CP

US grew almost twice as fast as UK in 2011 reports @wdjstraw http://t.co/l3qCXcsQ
http://twitter.com/asitseemstome/status/163057395818434560 Fiona McMahon

US grew almost twice as fast as UK in 2011 reports @wdjstraw http://t.co/l3qCXcsQ
http://twitter.com/Newsbot9 Newsbot9

Oh yes, the “extravagance” of a LOWER debt than how Major left is before the crisis.

Hint: Reality won’t give you cooties, you might wish to engage with it occasionally.
Stephen Wigmore

So how do you account for this?

http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2012/01/27/us-and-europe-growth-rates/