zlacker

>>robthe+(OP)
In China, the social contract at least is "you give up some individual freedoms and some privacy, never dissent against the government, and in exchange the government promises you prosperity"

I wonder what the Brits get in exchange for their giving up of personal freedoms?

>>bududu+9f
Brits already have more prosperity (=> median wages) even after adjusting for purchasing power.

Some stagnation is to be expected from high energy prices and trade disruption (brexit).

British surveillance state tolerance has always been pretty high for Europe, and is typically "sold" to the average citizen as anti-crime.

>>myrmid+ii
It depends where you are in the UK.

Almost all the wealth is in the South East of England. Outside of that the country is much poorer.

I drive from Manchester to Dorset once a month to visit my parents. There is a clear line where I notice all the street signs, the service stations, roads etc are better kept. Cars and houses are in better condition/news.

>>9Jolly+lH3
The same is true for China, though; all the wealth is at the urbanized coast, with a somewhat poor and underdeveloped hinterland.

>>myrmid+DL3
It is going to exist pretty much anywhere. Wealth is going to be concentrated in some areas and not others. So comparing the Median income of the entire country is not representative of the whole.

e.g. Jobs in London (even remote ones) will pay twice as much as jobs in the North West of England.

>>9Jolly+9T3
I do agree that boiling it down to a single comparison is always gonna be reductive, but the median is IMO still the best you can do here, because it ignores outliers completely (on both sides).

From what I can tell the prosperity gap is also large enough that small errors don't really matter; I already looked at urban china vs average UK (systematically favoring China) and the numbers are still not close (something like $30k vs >$40k even after PP adjustment).

>>myrmid+f74
> but the median is IMO still the best you can do here, because it ignores outliers completely (on both sides).

Using the Median as far as I am concerned is meaningless as the South/South-East skews everything. It is quite obvious as you drive across the country. You can see it with your own eyes.

I don't really care that much about the comparison with China.