Forbes Media Chairman Steve Forbes gives his thoughts on growing support for tax cuts in Britain and the tightening gubernatorial race in New Jersey on ‘Kudlow’.
In the 19th century the United Kingdom was clearly the richest country in the world, with consistent, solid economic growth, a focus on science and engineering, plus all the benefits of transocean trade. But now the country seems to have lost its mojo. The country’s living standards lag far behind those of other developed economies.
Contrary to popular belief, Britain’s GDP per capita (the income generated by the average person) last year lagged behind that of the vast majority of the fifty United States plus Washington DC, according to US government forecasts in the third quarter of 2025, plus recent data from the International Monetary Fund. Projections are necessary because the final annual GDP figures had not yet been published at the time of writing.
If these states (plus Washington DC) were to compare their GDP per capita, Britain would have ranked 50th, behind Alabama, which is expected to have a nominal GDP per capita of $60,265 in 2025. Britain was slightly worse off at $60,010, according to the latest data from the US government and the United States. the International Monetary Fund. Topping the list was Washington DC with $113,369. Analysts note that the figures do not include the cost of living; But even taking that into account, Britain still lags significantly behind the US national average.
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A sign showing the London Stock Exchange. (Toby Melville/Reuters/Reuters)
Wright notes that there is also a British cultural tendency towards risk aversion for many reasons. Even if a project or new business succeeds in Britain, so will the business heavily burdened and then hampered through newly created regulations. “These barriers are not only not helpful, but they shoot themselves in the foot,” he says. “And they are not on the technological frontier.” American business people tend to embrace risk.
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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
Surveys say the near future looks bleak, suggesting the UK economy will not suddenly recover, according to a research report from analytics firm Oxford Economics. “The UK lacks a driving force for sustainable growth,” the briefing said. That is because it is the growth of the economy, albeit at an extra slow pace British government spendingrather than organic growth and innovation from private sector companies.
Government spending has resulted in job creation, which has helped offset job losses in the private sector, the Oxford Economics report said. “But the public sector momentum is likely to begin to fade,” the report said. “Given weak private sector demand, we expect unemployment to rise further.”
The Oxford report also shows that government jobs have been persistently better paid on average than those in the private sector since the second half of 2023. That probably gets in the way of encouragement creative entrepreneurs of innovation, experts say.
A Union flag flies near the Elizabeth Tower, commonly known as “Big Ben”, and the Houses of Parliament in central London on March 6, 2017 (Ben Stansall/AFP Getty Images/Getty Images)
Oxford Economics predicts a small growth of 1% for 2026. But that was predicted before American-Israeli war with Iranwhich could lead to likely weaker growth for the British analyst warned.
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Robert Jenrick, the shadow chancellor of the British Reform Party, criticized the Labor government’s handling of the economy. “We are losing our steel, our car production, our glass, our ceramics, our chemicals,” he told Britain’s Daily Express. “There are millions of good jobs that depend on these industries, and they simply won’t survive if we continue to do so energy prices which are five or six times higher than in the United States.”
