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Only Portugal and (mostly southern) Italy have lower PPP adjusted wages than the UK in Western Europe.
And that's your answer. Productivity measures economic value created over certain time interval, not wether any particular worker did the job at a fast or slow pace. And UK workers, due to stagnating wages that again has created less incentive for UK companies to invest in automation, just cannot add as much to the GDP as other European workers can. A highly automatised production line with German or Nordic union wages on the other hand. That's productivity.
And while I am at it, the fabled Chinese worker that Liz is referring to is even less productive than any European worker. I'm not saying lazy, it's just that they can't create much economic value with the hand they've been dealt. That's why their wages are low and Chinese stuff is cheap. Millions of workers doing manual labour to make worthless trinkets might be the 19th century dream world the Tories are hoping for, but it isn't productive.
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starfish&coffee
@Stonehedge
Just looked it up. Only Portugal and (mostly southern) Italy have lower PPP adjusted wages than the UK in Western Europe. When you take into consideration the state of everything else in the country is it any wonder people aren't finding the energy to work their arses off? That and eye-watering childcare and virtually no eldercare...