Another thread on the Fool METaR board, about the UK economy circling the drain. I like Mark's reply:

I would say increase the labor participation rate, but when I looked it up, the UK has a MUCH higher labor participation rate than the USA has. So that’s not the answer. For some reason labor is worth much less in the UK than it is in the USA. I wonder why? Maybe not enough high-value-added jobs and too many menial almost zero value-added jobs? I’ve heard that the UK is basically one rich city surrounded by everyone else near poverty. Is that true?

discussion.fool.com - Slow motion car crash

The stories about the failure of UK industry are many. Horrid quality. Poor productivity. I have posted before, the film produced by British Leyland, in the 70s, that admits the company's machine tools are worn out, and the plants obsolete, but still lays it on the line workers to produce a high quality product. I remember when I could wander around DTW and see Vickers Viscounts and VC-10s, and BAC-111s. Now, the British aviation industry is reduced to building subassemblies for Airbus.

We see the same in the US, with production offshored to the Pac rim and Mexico. The EU is setting itself up for the same future with free trade agreements with India and Mexico.

Interesting table of European countries, ranked by manufacturing as a percent or GDP. The UK ranks between Ukraine and Moldova, at 7.68%.

theglobaleconomy.com - Share of manufacturing

Not entering into free trade agreements with countries with extremely low costs of production could prevent domestic manufacturing being hollowed out, but what do you do, when the "JCs" running your own industry stupid and arrogant their companies to death?

Steve