In his regular gig with the Financial Times, Tim Harford has the unusual job title of “undercover economist”. But he’s out in the open throughout the riveting and grim Skint: The Truth About Britain’s Broken Economy (Channel 4, Monday, 9pm), reporting from the frontline of a country facing into a potentially historic general election on July 4th.
It’s bleak viewing, and sadly, there won’t be much Schadenfreude for Irish viewers – this isn’t the socio-economic equivalent of watching England wheeze their way to victory over Slovakia at the Euros and then carry on as if they’ve just beaten Brazil in the World Cup.
Harford’s mission is to honestly explain the woes that bedevil Britain’s moribund economy and offer potential solutions. Unfortunately, many of these systemic flaws are equally relevant to Ireland – for instance, the dysfunctional planning system.
“If you bring forward schemes of a reasonably moderate scale, you’re pushing a rock up a hill,” a legal expert tells Harford. “International investors look at the British planning system with a mix of curiosity and horror. The extent of discretionary scope afforded to decision makers ... leads to appeals where lawyers get involved.”
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Harford goes on to lament the dire quality of British infrastructure and wonders why German cities, from Munich to Freiburg, have efficient tram systems while Leeds does not. Again, are we in any position to scoff? You can ponder that question as you stand in the cold wondering why your train hasn’t yet arrived (it’s been cancelled) or when your phantom bus might finally manifest (silly you – ghosts aren’t real, especially when Irish public transport is involved).
In certain aspects, Britain is unique. Because much of Ireland had no industry to speak of in the first place, it didn’t suffer from the generation-defining post-industrial shocks that devastated the UK in the 1970s and 1980s. And then there’s the folly of leaving the EU. “Brexit is still a huge issue,” says an executive at Brompton Bikes. “We used to be able to get a [bike] to customers in Europe in 48 hours. Now it sometimes takes weeks.”
The figures quoted by Harford are sobering. GDP growth in the UK since the pandemic is a paltry 1.3 per cent – behind the Eurozone (3.4 per cent) and the United States (8.7 per cent)
This has had a knock-on effect on living standards. For much of the 20th century, incomes in the UK doubled every 33 years. But growth has slowed sharply since the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 and the austerity politics that followed. “Incomes aren’t doubling every 33 years, says Harford. “They’re taking more than 180 years to double.”
He has a variety of solutions – from developing housing in the UK’s hallowed green belts to investment in education and long-term cross-party economic planning. Whether any of these are applicable to Ireland is hard to say, though we could, of course, benefit from upgrading our public infrastructure. Until the day that comes – will it ever come? – we are in no position to laugh at the UK.
“Something has gone wrong,” says Harford early on. “We are struggling to fulfil our promise.” He isn’t talking about Ireland, but would he have to change his message all that much if he was?
