How the U.K. Became One of the Poorest Countries in Western Europe

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The past few months have been rough for the United Kingdom. Energy prices are soaring. National inflation has breached double digits. The longest-serving British monarch has died. The shortest-serving prime minister has quit.

You probably knew all of that already. British news is covered amply (some might say too amply) in American media. Behind the lurid headlines, however, is a deeper story of decades-long economic dysfunction that holds lessons for the future.

In the American imagination, the U.K. is not those of Western Europe. By some measures, in fact, real wages in the U.K. are lower than they were 15 years ago, and will likely be next year.