News

Mini User Center

 
Advanced search

148549 Posts in 8100 Topics- by 952 Members - Latest Member: ToJo

May 23, 2013, 09:43:26 AM
you are here: Raoul's China Saloon (V3.0) » The Bar Room » The Champagne Cabana » How are Britons so rich?
Pages: [1]
« previous next »
Print
Author Topic: How are Britons so rich?  (Read 367 times)
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
zero
Barfly

*
Posts: 417
« on: March 18, 2012, 03:07:32 AM »
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1234879/Britains-average-family-worth-204-000.html

I know this article is old, but I thought it was interesting. How did Britons get so rich? To the Britons here: Are you this frigging rich? Can I borrow 10,000 pounds? They're called pounds, right? Do they really weight one pound each? Sorry for all the questions. Just curious as to how our brothers across the Atlantic live, and how they got so doggone rich.
Logged
Raoul F. Duke
Lovable Rogue
Despot in Absentia

*****
Gender: Male
Posts: 9577


"Be specific if you order the mushrooms!"
« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2012, 03:53:21 AM »
Britain has plenty of poor folks, too.

The COUNTRY is rich, largely because the British controlled the supply and shipping of just about every thing in the world worth having, for several centuries. It's a perk of once having an empire upon which the sun genuinely never set. uk_a-01 usa_a-01 canada_a-01 newzealand_a-01 th_bx th_bv th_ch bermuda_a-01 et al...

More recently, Britain is also a major oil producer, from its North Sea fields.
Logged
"Vicodin and dumplings...it's a great combination!" (Anthony Bourdain, in Harbin)

"Here in China we aren't just teaching...
we're building the corrupt, incompetent, baijiu-swilling buttheads of tomorrow!" (Raoul F. Duke)
Escaped Lunatic
Global Moderator

*****
Gender: Male
Posts: 6603


Finding new ways to conquer the world
« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2012, 03:58:17 AM »
I think the Brits must really control international banking.  All those ATM fees the rest of us get charged are deposited into UK bank accounts.
 th_as th_as th_as
Logged
I'm pro-cloning and we vote!
eggcluck
Barfly

*
Gender: Male
Posts: 83
« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2012, 08:28:56 AM »
Being a Brit I woudl really like to know where my share of all this money is Tongue

Seriously in the UK despite a uni education etc I barely had enough money to keep myself fed, let alone do things other than just survive. People say teaching in China is not much money, but materially speaking my life here is far more comfortable than what I ever had in the UK.
Logged
Still standing
James the Brit
Barfly

*
Gender: Male
Posts: 999
« Reply #4 on: March 18, 2012, 09:48:10 AM »
CHEAP and EASY CREDIT! well, before the crash...
Logged
SilverMay
Barfly

*
Gender: Female
Posts: 44
« Reply #5 on: March 18, 2012, 11:47:24 AM »
Quote from: eggcluck on March 18, 2012, 08:28:56 AM
Being a Brit I would really like to know where my share of all this money is Tongue

Seriously in the UK despite a uni education etc I barely had enough money to keep myself fed, let alone do things other than just survive. People say teaching in China is not much money, but materially speaking my life here is far more comfortable than what I ever had in the UK.

I would have to second this!
Logged
One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching.
MK
Barfly Dude

*
Gender: Male
Posts: 1738
« Reply #6 on: March 18, 2012, 02:27:55 PM »
Yeah it's almost all credit - did you read the bit about how much actual savings convertible into cash most people have - almost none!  (I actually now feel much better about the amount of 'real' money I have managed to save after ten years farting about as an EFL teacher!)
Logged
What is the sound of one hand ganbei-ing?
Arnold J. Rimmer
Barfly

*
Posts: 211
« Reply #7 on: March 19, 2012, 04:17:19 AM »
This is why I can't stand the constant moaning of my fellow Brits whenever I am back in the UK. Complaining is a national pastime at home.

I grew up in relatively poor areas of England, yet people always had a roof over their heads, enough food to eat, TVs, cars and plenty of consumer durables. These people still moan constantly, saying how the country 'is going to the dogs' and saying the UK is a 'sinking ship'. Try living as a local in rural China, downtown Bangkok or a township of Johannesburg!
Logged
Foscolo
Barfly

*
Gender: Male
Posts: 521


Boom boom!


WWW
« Reply #8 on: March 19, 2012, 07:46:15 PM »
Rightly or wrongly, the impression many of us Brits have is that the average US resident has a slightly higher standard of living that the average UK resident. Maybe our impressions are skewed by what we see in the movies and on TV. Having said that, last night on TV I sat through the second half of Miss Congeniality 2, Armed and Fabulous. It was most depressing, cynical, stereotype-peddling and morally-bankrupt piece of garbage I've seen for a long time, but it didn't make me think the USA is really like that.
Logged
Free stuff for teaching English with jokes: ESLjokes.net.
zero
Barfly

*
Posts: 417
« Reply #9 on: March 19, 2012, 08:01:45 PM »
The entertainment industry definitely portrays a higher standard of living than is real.

I do see a flaw in the methodology of the study of Britons' vast personal wealth. It added up the value of all assets, including autos and household furnishings. The problems is, if you actually had to convert all assets to cash, you wouldn't end up with as much. People paid $1,400 for a couch, and they value it that way when asked for the survey. But in reality they couldn't sell it for anywhere near that much. The same is true for cars, probably even more so. In the case of houses, they aren't counting the realtor fees. In the case of pensions/retirement savings, liquidating them early will, at least in the U.S., incur significant taxes and penalties.

So I think the figures are inflated. Nonetheless, it does still look like Britons are doing far better than Americans.
Logged
Pages: [1]
Print
« previous next »
 
Jump to: