Bud the Wiser

Article on food and energy inflation that may help the OP.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/1...OECD-says.html

chris955

We have been very pleasantly surprised that we havent had this too often really. Occassionally someone will ask the question but within a few minutes it transpires that the person is actually very happy in England with no desire to move anywhere else. It is almost like a knee jerk reaction and is almost a joke to many.
I have also had quite a few say they arent surprised and have heard that it has become very expensive to live in Australia. Prices in Australia, especially groceries and utilities have absolutely gone through the roof in the last decade.
Yes those who tell you how it MUST be better in Australia are absolutely no different to those
in Australia who tell you how bad everything is here, they have rarely been to the other country.

Bud the Wiser

List of countries by external debt for the OP's information......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._external_debt

chris955

Just in case the OP doesnt like snakes
http://wellsking.tripod.com/Worldrec23.htm

Bud the Wiser

AA report on car running costs in the UK..........

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/running_costs/

jocksternhcle

This is an interesting Thread for me as I am thinking of moving to the UK from Australia with a family of 6. My wife and I lived in London for 3 years in the 90's. There was a fair difference in cost of living then. We have travelled to Europe every 2nd year since and have noticed on those trips how Europe is now cheaper than Oz - the price rises creep up on you week by week when about your day to day business. Mind you people are paid pretty high here - the average wage is now about $AUD75K so about GBP45K.
We are not concerned about cost of living or recessions - the UK is at the bottom of the recessionary cycle and heading back up where as Australia is just past the top and heading South as the Commodities cycle (coal, iron ore etc) comes off - things will get much tougher here over the next five years. We've all heard about the 20 year old truck drivers getting paid $200K in the open cut coal mines - this sort of stuff can never last!

MarylandNed

Debt isn't always a bad thing. It is a vital part of the economy - but there is good debt and bad debt. The actual amount of debt isn't as important as the ability to repay it. For the UK to be at 390% of GDP is very worrying though. That's way more than the US, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, etc.

This is an interesting article because it talks about government debt-to-revenue ratios. In this, the US is much worse off than the UK.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2...-income-ratios

Giantaxe

Difficult to tell because of this:

It would be interesting to see figures that take this into account.

To me government debt is more telling:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...by_public_debt

Here the UK is a little higher than the US (88 to 73%). However, the unfunded liabilities of US governments (pensions, healthcare) are far higher and there seems to be little political willpower to do anything about it. Healthcare costs will consume 20% of GDP if trends continue, a good chunk of which governments of one form or other (federal, state, local) are on the hook for.

chris955

I have read all the posts and the very interesting links and I reiterate, the answer to the original question is a resounding NO.

Bud the Wiser

FYI....

http://news.sky.com/story/1076033/un...rens-prospects

chris955

We're all doomed....doomed

chris955

To the OP, dont worry too much, this one doesnt even rank Australia at all, woohoo
http://www.aneki.com/children.html

chris955

Dont you just love surveys, there is one to suit everyone. This one again seems to rank us above Australia.
http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/07/24/...endly-nations/

Dont worry Im not taking any of this seriously, these surveys and studies are meaningless to most people.

MarylandNed

Don't worry...I'm not taking you seriously.

Sure, the conclusion of a study or survey isn't meaningful for everybody...but it isn't necessarily meaningless for everybody either. What is worrying though is that there appears to be a lot more pessimism than optimism...and more than can be explained away by the British propensity for having a good moan. Foreign assessments also paint a bleak picture of the British economy and its future. In the US, the outlook is actually pretty positive and the feeling is that a real recovery is underway.

The UK is in bad shape economically - no-one can dispute that. Hopefully it has bottomed out. But the general consensus is that it will be a long, slow recovery and that most people will have to adjust to a lower standard of living. In global terms, this situation is hardly unique so the UK still ranks as one of the most desirable places to live along with many EU countries and other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, etc. I'm sure I could live quite happily in the UK or any of those other countries.

If I moved back to the UK, I don't think I'd be able to match the standard of living that I currently enjoy in the US. My salary, home ownership and healthcare situations would certainly be worse in the UK. Granted, the healthcare situation here in the US is only better for me because I have a good health insurance plan and fast and easy access to excellent doctors, specialists, hospitals and clinics for me and my family. I dread to think how we would cope if we didn't have health insurance in the US. But our current situation is better than it would be if we had to rely on the NHS (longer waits for services, etc). Of course I could be gunned down in a movie theatre and then my point of view could change drastically - if I'm still around to have one. Then again I could also be stabbed by a chav somewhere in the UK.

Like I said before, there is a lot I miss about the UK. I still have a lot of friends and family there. I miss fish and chips, the beer, going to football matches and the easy access to Europe among other things.

Is it all doom and gloom in the UK? No, but it is for some people and possibly for more people than ever before. There are pros/cons to living there - same as any other country. Is it better in Australia or the US that it is in the UK? That depends on who you ask - their personal situation and preferences will shape their definition of "better". Some people will say "no"...but some will say "yes".

So the real answer to the OP's question is really "it depends".

dunroving

That's the case for most questions like this - people argue the toss for 175 posts before someone eventually ends up with the answer above.