Britain Prospers No More In Global Prosperity Index

WHAT has happened to our once great nation? Where is it? Well, it’s at number 17 in a list of the planet’s most prosperous countries, that’s where.

The rankings, known as the Global Prosperity Index, were complied by the Global Development think-thank and used such factors as personal wealth, life satisfaction, healthcare and climate to calculate a top 50 chart, with Britain not even warranting a place in the top 15, or 16.

Topping the list is Norway, followed by the USA, Sweden, Austria and New Zealand with the Scandinavian nations applauded for economic growth, political and civil liberties, high levels of leisure time and equality of opportunity.

On the other hand, troubled African state of Zimbabwe props up the Top 50. Pakistan, Egypt, Bangladesh and India also feature towards the bottom of the list.

Martin Ellis, chief economist for the Halifax is rather surprised at the results. Says he: “In the World Bank rankings - which only measure economic prosperity - the UK was placed tenth. That seems to suggest that we are falling behind when it comes to factors associated with life satisfaction. An over-emphasis on economic growth can come at the expense of quality of life, as this survey appears to show.”

Gang violence, terror threats, crowded trains, massive mortgages, no smoking in pubs and Lord Sebastian Coe – what’s not to like about this country?

Anorak

Posted: 3rd, July 2007 | In: Money Comments (5) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink