Britain is living through the best time ever

mayonnaise

Britain's economy is going through a renaissance – we are living through one of the best times ever.

We have the highest employment rate in four decades, we're earning more money than before, and we're buying homes at an earlier age. We've completely and utterly stuck two fingers up at the recession in the last seven years.

http://uk.businessinsider.com/why-britain-is-living-through-the-best-era-ever-uk-economy-jobs-housing-2015-8

Have a great weekend, fellow MSE'ers. Enjoy the good times. :beer:

Thrugelmir

How old is she?

warwicktiger

Not old enough to remember or read about Harold MacMillan - "You've never had it so good"

Graham_Devon

How does she figure out we are buying homes at an earlier age? Surely she must be using a specific set of figures to measure that? Maybe simply looking at 2008 onwards only and concluding it's the best time "ever".

Edit: Found it.....and LOL.

She uses the FTB age specifically for those using HTB and concludes the average age of the FTB has now fallen 6 years to 31 years old.

What she states:

The government launched the Help to Buy scheme in October 2013. This meant that first time buyers would be able to snag a home with only a 5% deposit. The government would provide the remaining 15%.

This has meant the average age for a first time buyer has fallen to the average age of 31 – a whole six years off the previous number.

What's actually been said...

According to analysis of official data by the Mortgage Advice Bureau, a broker, the average age of people who bought a home in the last year through the "Help to Buy 2" mortgage guarantee was 31, compared with the national average age of 37.

She also makes the statement that we are earning more money than before. Before what? ...... Before 2014, that's what. She then goes on to look at the longer term and ignores inflation... and concludes we have £177 extra per week, so were all much better off. She then uses inflation when it suits to state that last years wage rise of 2.8% was over a period with 0% inflation (of course, it wasn't a period of 0% at all, it was a month).

Possibly one of the the worst pieces of journalism I've seen.

MARTYM8`

Her article seems to operate on the presumption that the UK did not exist prior to 2008?

Maybe its the best time ever for the sort of people she mixes with while working for CNBC and the Wall Street journal?

Running_Horse

We are living in one of the luckiest, healthiest and wealthiest societies in the entire history of this planet. You can complain about this or that and say something might have been better ten years ago. But we live longer, our children survive into adulthood, most diseases have a treatment, we don't go hungry or freeze to death, we don't get eaten by wild animals, and new scientific discoveries are made every year. I genuinely envy the opportunities that await my child, most of which were unthinkable even twenty years ago.

[Deleted User]

if these are the good times god help us all when the bad times return

dealer_wins

woodbine wrote: »

if these are the good times god help us all when the bad times return

Dont worry Woodbine just get all your mates to keep voting tory like you do!!

worried_jim

woodbine wrote: »

if these are the good times god help us all when the bad times return

You mean Labour?

CLAPTON

woodbine wrote: »

if these are the good times god help us all when the bad times return

where are times better than here?

ukcarper

CLAPTON wrote: »

where are times better than here?

I suppose that depends on the individual's circumstances it's pretty good for me but I'm sure it's not the same for everyone.