How to Fix the UK Economy

The UK economy has been struggling for a while now, with growth stagnant despite inflation coming down in recent months. So what factors like productivity and regional inequality holding the country back, what can actually be done to address these issues?

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0:00 Intro
0:51 The 2 Things Wrong with the UK economy
4:52 Solving the UK’s Productivity Problem
8:40 Solving the UK’s Overreliance on London
9:54 Sponsor

[Dantursi]

The U.K. economy can actually get better if only the govt can start making better decisions for the sake of it's citizens, cos' they've really made life more difficult for its residents. Hyperinflation has left the less haves bearing the brunt of the burden. Its already eating into my entire $620k retirement portfolio. Like where else can we invest our money with less risks?

[ancaoraathasach]

Consistency and predictability are also hugely important. There are bolts of lightning that have stayed in place longer than economic policies in this country.

[benm]

I remember working in a deli/cafe in an affluent area. When I started, I really wanted to show my work ethic despite working minimum wage.

Then I was put on the closing shift, which included a lot of clean up after closing. After my first closing shift, I noted with my employer that I put in an hour of over time to clean the kitchen but his reponce was "you have set hours and we don't pay overtime". I thought this was rubish reasoning, but though once I got the cleaning routine down I'd be able to finish before my work hours. Nope. In order to clean everything properly, the deli serfaces, wrap the food, clean the coffee machine, hover, mop etc, without cutting corners, I'd have to put in a minimum half-hour of overtime. 4 times a week thats 2 hours of free labour I was doing. 8 hours a month. A whole shift of unpaid labour. Boss didn't give a shit. Pretty shitty but I thought I'd power through. Show the right attitude. After 6 months of this I decided to ask my boss for a raise. Id been there about a year total and explained to my employer that with the aforementioned overtime that I thought my worth was more than what I was being paid. I was refused with a stupid response like "well thats the payment for someone in your position and its not fair on your co-workers blah blah blah". All my coworkers thought this was unfair.

Then, the boss decided to open a second location, one town over. And every single regular customer that came in was congratulating him on the new opening and his response was "Yea this place is doing so well that I thought it was time to expand the business". I remember over pressing the coffee grounds in frustration when he said that. We busted our ass keeping the place to a high standard for the lowest wage that he could legally pay us and all so that he could hirer more minimum wage workers to make his more profit, no raise for us.

After that, I really didn't give a shit anymore. I did the bare minimum of my job description and went at a more relaxed pace, not slow or unprofessional, just exactly the pace that was asked of me. The boss QUICKLY noticed ask asked why I wasn't as efficient anymore. I explained that I felt no incentive to be as productive as I was before and poninted out that while I wasn't AS efficient I was still meeting my essential requirements for the job. The boss was pissed but I realised that the way he felt about me didn't really matter in the end. After a few more months of this I asked for a nother raise and once again the boss hand-waived it away with "its not fair on anyone else blah blah blah". I handed in my 2 weeks' notice there on the spot.

This was before the term "quite quitting" was coined, but talking to my friends and coworkers, Im confident that its been common since the 2008 crash. We feel no incentive to go above and beyond since we know that all we're doing is enriching other people and getting the bare minimum in return.

You want more efficient workers? Start properly incentivising them.

[lewisx]

Tbh the main reason imo for low productivity is the obsession with property. It’s become a commodity and investors know they can get better returns through it compared to other sectors with little effort. To solve this the govt need to disincentivize it whether it be through policies such as LVT to stop speculation. However we know it’s not in MPs interest to do this as many are landlords.

[PixelInSoffitta]

The UK is starting to look a lot like Italy :D . Low productivity, high regional inequality, low level of politicians and political instability.

[Calum_S]

I wonder if the poor productivity is linked to casualisation of the workforce, with more people on short-term or zero-hours contracts. Corporate knowledge has been lost, with companies relying on people magically knowing what to do and how to do it.

[yololifestyle]

It's quite rare to come across a video actually providing solutions, instead of constantly commenting on the issues. Thank you!

[handbanana]

Now all we have to do is figure out how to get TLDR elected into Parliament.

[LuckyFlanker]

This focus on regional inequality only makes me even more angry that HS2 phases 2 and beyond are being cancelled.
The UK had the opportunity to provide the backbone for wider economic development and they junked it in favor of "cost savings."

[crankreid]

Moral is a big factor too, with house prices unreachable in areas, and markets saturated there is really no reason to do anything more than a 9-5 doing as little as possible. its especially rife in the public sector, the harder you work the more you get put on and no reward in any form. no reason to care when there's no carrot or stick.

[ajama]

More likely to fix my receding hairline 😂😂😂

[alana]

The Tories have been a disaster for us.

Please vote and get these wretched creatures out. Tactical voting can make a massive difference.

[WhichDoctor]

so we are at the bottom of EU nations for productivity alongside Italy and Greece. Guess what we have in common with those two countries, crippling austerity. Only Italy and Greece had that austerity forced upon them by the EU. Our government chose to impose austerity on us for no reason, other than ideology

[ozzya]

Amazing what a decade of austerity does to a country. Basically shooting ourselves in the foot over and over again

[R.a.t.t.y]

For the solution to productivity, we need to look at the ancient Egyptians. The answer is whips, massive whips.

Do you realise that, since 2008, the UK has failed to build a single pyramid.

Even Queen Elizabeth had to be buried in a small chapel on the flight path into Heathrow.

[hersdera]

In light of the ongoing global economic crisis, it is crucial for everyone to prioritize investing in diverse sources of income that are not reliant on the government. This includes exploring opportunities in stocks, gold, silver, and digital currencies. Despite the challenging economic situation, it remains a favorable time to consider these investments.

[SkeletonDrums]

Getting rid of an incompetent Government will certainly help!

[leopalmieri]

Everyone is missing the key issue which needs to be addressed: wealth inequality. We’re on a runaway train heading to further and further wealth inequality, where the have’s accrue more and more wealth without providing value and the workers of society are worse and worse off. Having our wealth tied up in fewer individuals doesn’t help fix productivity. We need to free up our capital sitting in property speculation or safe investments. If the money was better spread around we’d see more dynamism and risk taking in the economy.

[Justin-jhym]

London centric government, move the UK Parliament to one of the regional cities and they will start investing outside of London.

[dohiri]

As an American seeing the UK average post tax household equated to West Virginia and Alabama really put things into context. Thats wild!