Lothianlad

This is so funny...here in Edinburgh we get loads and loads of American tourists, and of all those I actually met in one way or another, and had a wee bit of a chat with from time to time, I never, ever met a single one who admitted to voting for George Bush! They all said "they didn't vote for the guy!" Does that mean all those Americans who actually voted for Bush never actually leave the United States?

meauxna

Does this surprise you?

CelticRover

Towards the end of his presidency 80% of the US voting population denied voting for 'the boy who would be king'.

Walkingman

Could you help me out by saying what you consider Britain's "better days" to be?

Macca67

Of course it is. Economically the country is all but in a debtor's prison with 50 squillion in debt and not a hope of repaying it in 100 years or so. Politically, it's a spent force with little influence on the global stage, and getting further isolated from neighbours in Europe, while all the MP's can do is line their pockets and not have the decency to put their hands up when caught. Militarily, it cannot even adequately equip our troops or defend the borders from wave after wave of illegal immigration, etc, etc, etc.

I've never met a visitor, American or otherwise, who did not enjoy a visit anyplace safe knowing they have an option to leave.

Elvira

You mean like the US Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Agriculture........... - need I go on?

CelticRover

There you go asking me hard questions again!

Cape Blue

http://www.visualeconomics.com/gdp-v...bt-by-country/
This is quite an interesting graph - the UK doesn't look so bad compared to much or Europe or the US and Canada

elfman

the third comment down sums it all up rather nicely

Macca67

It's still bad compared to a few years ago when it sat around 28% of GDP, and the govt's accounting is dodgy at best as they ignore the impact of pension contributions and PFI commitments which are a public debt and would push the figure much higher.

Of greater concern is where the debt is heading. A lot of it was used for extra public spending on Health, Education, dole-wallahs etc which will need to be sustained, especially the former as the population ages. Choices are limited for solving this, either cut public spending - unlikely, or raise taxes, all the while the debt still needs to be serviced, which currently runs at 3% of GDP per annum.

I'm not seeing the sunshine.

Dan725

Is the British Isles long past it's better days or not?

IMO, it is. In 1910, the British Empire was the biggest and best in the world, and booming. Shortly afterward, it went into decline and is now a shadow of its former self.

Cape Blue

Looking at this chart it doesn't look too disasterous yet.
http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/uk...ebt_chart.html

Dan725

You are right....looks that that blue line is headed the same way though. Have to add though, regarding my long range example, it isn't truly representative when you think about what the British Empire has lost in the last 100 years.

sime303

yes but to even out what we lost as an Empire, we did invent Viagra.

tonrob

Given the decline of the Empire it's good to see some parts are growing.