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“I think the UK can go back to being pretty much the richest country in the world per capita, at least as rich as the USA” said Matthew Clifford

This sounds very arrogant and wishful thinking considering the trajectory of UK in the last 20 years.

At the global stage, UK is as irrelevant as countries like Canada and Australia, but at least Canadians and Australians don’t openly claim they can be the richest country in the world.



> UK is as irrelevant as countries like Canada and Australia

The UK is the world’s 6th largest economy [1]. It clocks in next to India, the 5th. It is twice as large as Russia, the sick man of Europe and neighbourhood pest, and one of the other nine nuclear powers of the world [2].

The decline you cite is also the opportunity; if Britain could get its shit together, it could reasonably grow an entire Saudi Arabia (1%) or even Canada or Russia (2%) in a generation. (If it really clicked and maintained 3% growth for a generation, it would add to itself the entire economy of India.)

Never underestimate the advantage of starting ahead.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(no...

[2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_with_nuclear_...


Imagine if Germans or Japan claimed they want to be wealthiest country in the world again…

That is how it feels to the rest of the world when they hear UK thinking they want to reclaim the top spot again.


Canada and Australia are rich by natural resources per capita. UK is rich by the history of the 19th and 18th centuries. I know which I'd bet on lasting.

Uk used to be top of the list for countries millionaires move to. It's rapidly fallen down that list over the last 10-20 years below those others mentioned now it's an exporter of wealthy individuals. That's big capital flight happening today


Neither Canada nor Australia used to be the wealthiest country.


Does Netherlands or Spain claim to want to be wealthiest again?

Many countries used to be wealthiest, and are no longer. uk is the one of the few arrogant ones that keeps thinking they will make a come back.


We shouldn't conclude that UK is X or Y based on the writings of one person.




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