UK economic slump now worse than the 1930s

[muriel_volestrangler]

This is a sobering graph:



http://notthetreasuryview.blogspot.com/2012/01/recessions-and-recoveries-historical.html

We're now in more of a slump than any recorded recession and 'recovery'. And as Liberal Conspiracy points out, that's before today's figures of 0.2% more shrinkage.

[fedsron2us]

1. Interesting comparisons

but the figures from the 1930s are a bit misleading because Britain saw its biggest recession of the 20th century in the 1920s. In fact GDP dropped by over 25% between the end of the 1st World War and 1921. It did not recover its 1918 levels until 1935.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression_in_the_United_Kingdom

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Wow - I had no idea the early 20s were that bad

That does make this look small.

[fedsron2us]

3. Britain came off the gold standard early in the 1930s

It also stopped paying a lot of its WW1 debt. This meant that the 1930s Great Depression was less severe in Britain than in the US or much of Europe. Most people in the UK still dont recognise what a financial disaster the Great War was for the UK. In fact in economic terms the British Empire was the big loser from the 20th Centuries military conflicts even if it wound up on the winning side militarily.

Britain has never fully paid off its World War 1 Debt (unlike that from World War 2)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4757181.stm

[LeftishBrit]

4. Good point

The concept that the depression began in 1929, and was a stark contrast with the prosperous 20s, is rather America-centric. The UK was in recession through much of the period between WW1 and WW2. Horrible time by all accounts, and one to which the government seems all too eager to return us.