ABSTRACT
Introduction The United Kingdom (UK) is one of the larger European countries and economies, operating outside the Euro Zone, which enjoys an economic living standard and growth rate comparable with the other major European countries. In 2014 its per capita GDP (on PPP basis) was 28 per cent below the USA and 14 per cent below Germany, but only 2 per cent below France, 6 per cent above Japan and 11 per cent above Italy (IMF, 2015). Growth rates over the period since 2003 compare favourably with European peers, with an average of 1.6 per cent against 0.8 per cent for the Euro Zone, 1.1 per cent for Germany and 1.0 per cent for France, but below the USA’s 1.9 per cent. Growth was relatively high in the early 2000s, but dipped sharply in the 2008-2009 crisis period and was slow to recover, although recovery quickened in 2013-2014 (Bozio et al., 2015).
