PER 2015
Figure 2: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/01/01/what-we-know-about-inequality-in-14- charts/
Figure 2 shows the change in average real annual household income, by income group. This shows that the top 1% have an upward trend of growth much more than any other income group. Even
though they were hit the worst by the recession they have been the quickest to recover. At the moment the richest 10% of households own 850 times the wealth of the poorest 10%. That’s might not seem so bad but since 1977 inequality in the UK, measured by the gini coefficient, has risen by 42%. Not only does inequality have a negative effect on the poor but it also costs the UK £31-33 billion per year in terms of productivity and lost taxes. Wealth inequality in the UK has got so bad that it is now equal to that of Nigeria. These figures show that the UK clearly has a problem with inequality and it could be argued that at the moment the GDP is high enough and that we should focus on a more immediate problem such as inequality. Global warming is also a telling issue for the UK government. Global warming is causing rising sea levels which has a direct effect on the United Kingdom. Global sea levels are expected to rise 23 inches by the end of the century. Rising sea levels and increasing temperatures will lead to more storms as well as
Figure 3: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/ uk/summaries/2014/winter
much stronger storms. Along with storms there will be many more floods such as the 2014 floods, which had the wettest January since records began and 5.2 million homes were damaged. Global warming would have huge economics costs as well. The UK currently spends £2.2 billion each year on defences for storms and floods and that figure is only going to increase over time especially with
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