EU Economics: Comparing the UK with Europe

Stephanie Flanders has posted a very useful blog examining Eurozone growth, and whether the UK can best be compared to France and Germany or to Greece, Portugal and Spain. She starts with Ed Balls rejection of the Chancellor’s habit of likening the position of the UK economy to those of the southern states which are struggling so badly at present; the Shadow Chancellor believes a better comparison would be with our traditional competitors in northern Europe.

The opinion of the IMF is closer to that of George Osborne, as their latest report specifically likened the UK economy to those of Spain and Ireland, with the depth of public debt necessitating major cuts in public spending. On the other hand, for the last decade the UK’s growth of GDP per capita has been greater than that of Germany. However the German figure of 1.5% growth in the first quarter of 2011 outstrips the UK’s 0.5% and is perhaps based on an economy that has benefited from structural reforms - but is very vulnerable to the strength of the global economy, as exports are such an important element of GDP when compared to the UK.

Stephanie Flanders goes on to draw similar comparisons with the economies of France and of Spain, with comments that students preparing for A2 papers would do very well to study and analyse for themselves.