Unequal Britain: UK's Inequality Crisis Explained

An explanation of why the UK is seeing a rise in inequality - not just income, but also wealth, geographical and age inequality.

About

[StoicEye]

Thank you for covering this. Wealth inequality has been almost normalised in this country. Society atm very messed up.

[Hiram]

A very good analysis. The government seem to think making someone poorer will make them keener.

UBI is basically the state pension for old people.

[dm]

What a fallen, broken & evil world we live it's only going to get worse. :( :( :(

[samgrainger]

For litterally my entire life that I can remeber it feels like there has been a slow-ish decline. Turns out its becuse there was/is.

[cruelco]

Insightful analysis of a very grim situation, looking forward to the UBI video - can you explore anything on the likelihood of UBI being adopted as policy as I hear a lot about the studies that get carried out but not if there's any actual appetite to implement

[mssdn]

My grandparents bought their terraced house, my parents bought a nice semi in a village and we have a nice detached house. I did wonder, about 10 years ago, how can this carry on. Our adult children are renting. I hope we don’t need to have to move to a care home, so that our children can inherit our house

[edmills]

This is the most important issue facing the UK today but it will be brushed under the carpet as long as possible. Maybe the next generation will do something about it but I'm not holding my breath...

[dee-jay]

Taxation also needs to move from labour to passive income sources. It makes no sense that dividend, rent, inheritance or property increases - money you make while doing nothing, should be taxed less than your physical work.

[davidcarr]

This video should be circulated widely. If it were, I truly think the Cons. would never see power again. Tax asserts and scare the bejesus out of the gammon. I probably shouldn't say that on this very polite channel. My goodness where have you been all my life. You're absolutely now my go-to-guy on economics.

[majormoolah]

Very good video, thank you. Inequality and lack of education or prospects also have grave political implications. Those left behind tend to be protest voters. These negative emotions find an outlet among the populists and other right-wing politicians. You could argue that Brexit happened, because this wealth equality made some feel left behind by globalisation and then voted against their own interests. I have also often wondered why UK became so much like USA. I would love for some historian of ideas to study the topic.

[piqueinterest]

You are great, I've been waiting for a channel like this.

[KScan-cjwi]

Brexit was about non tax co-operation if we consider the AML directives and the calling for a public register of offshore beneficial ownership, the best that has been achieved is a blanket 15% on corp tax, however secrecy jurisdictions will remain just that and the pesky EU can do one was the establishments I am on that subject was it not the case that Wales and other deprived areas were promised that all EU funding would be 100% matched, has that happened? I don't think so!

[georgesdelatour]

The rise in inequality in the UK seems to track the country’s deindustrialisation pretty exactly. In 1973 manufacturing accounted for 30% of the UK economy. in 2023 it’s 9%.

[dalskiBo]

Thanks for covering, it is grotesque & absolutely amazes me how the uneducated are completely unaware just how farcical the current system is.

[georgesdelatour]

If the government becomes revenue dependent on taxes paid by the super wealthy, it will be forced to follow policies which keep those people super wealthy. If you need tax receipts from Amazon to fund the NHS, you won’t pass any anti-monopoly laws which reduce Amazon’s profitability.

During the postwar recovery of 1945-1973, we had both our highest per capita economic growth and our lowest inequality. At that time government tax revenue depended more on raising the earning capacity of the median worker than raising the earning capacity of billionaires.

[Phil_D_Waller]

Again and i have laboured the point - the UK govt is a the currency issuer of the £. The £ has been off the gold/$ std since 1971, there is no need to tax wealth for the govt to run a larger defecit to put more Fiat in the hands of those struggling - this would boost aggr demand and the economy in general and allow people to pay down debt. Private debt is the issue here, if people can pay down their private debt they have more of a chance of having a better quality of live and improving the countries wealth at the macro level. Taxation at the macro level is nothing more than money being destoryed, therefore to tax the wealthy to provide better public services is a moot point, it should be to stop them being able to have access to govts via that wealth to lobby them. Neoliberialism and its proponents have largely contributed to the malaise in many countries, with the gutting of the public sector and the UK becoming concentrated around the financial district and the finnace industry - The fastest growing economy in the G7 is Japan, which has 250 % debt to GDP, which doesnt seem to hurt their economy, they have had relativley low inflation, run a trade surplus and tend to care for their citizens more than the UK or US i would suggest. they are also in control of the Bond yield curve and are not bothered about 'Bond vigilantes' - coz when you own your own bank, there isnt much the bond vigilantes can do! > if you want to understand the economy more - skoot over to Steve Keens youtube channel where he seriously understands a monetary economy - imho PS - the gov debt is the non gov surplus, why would you want to pay it back to the creator of the thing!? seems fundamently a strange aproach - and if you are concerned about the treasury paying int on the debt - simply put in a ZIRP .

[BrutusAlbion]

Damn in blackpool you're dead before you even get a pension 💀

[gzknk]

Rising house prices bring inequality in that it makes purchasing a house much less attainable than it was. However, it DOES NOT make such house owners any more wealthy, except perhaps, notionally.
We bought our modest 3-bed detached in 1980 for £35K, and it's now worth probably £450K. But we can't access that money unless we sell up and live in a tent.
The beneficiaries will be our children, who will inherit the property when we peg it.

[peterbee]

Good analysis. Can you pass your ideas on to politicians or some of the new media like Novara and Doubledown .

[ricardopelc-wesoly]

Only a complete and utter transformation of the capitalistic system would solve the inequality's of the present system, perhaps the days of politicians and those in high office are numbered and one by one they leave the stage of their inglorious reign, better times are with the people, people power is the only way of changing society's ills through a more just way of living.