Matthew Lynn

If the Fed kick-starts global rate rises, the UK shouldn’t be left behind

One is growing at 2.9 percent, the other at 2.1 percent. In one retail sales are growing at 1 percent, in the other at 7.5 percent. In one wages are growing by 2.4 percent a year, in the other by 2.3 percent. In one, the establishment is coming to terms with a populist revolt against the elite. In the other, the establishment is, er, coming to terms with a populist revolt against the elite.

What are they? They are, of course, the US and the UK economies. What is remarkable right now is how similar the economic outlook is in both countries. True, there are some minor differences, with the Americans doing better on some measures, and the British on others. But from simply looking at the statistics, it is quite hard to tell them apart. Their performance is just about the same.

And yet, here is an odd thing.

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Written by
Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a financial columnist and author of ‘Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis’ and ‘The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031’

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