The article states that GDP per head in Britain will be £23,500 this year, compared with £23,250 in America.
Ah, but that is a straight calculation at current exchange rates. It does not consider purchasing power. Further in the article is the following clarification:
"The Oxford analysts also point out that Americans benefit from lower prices than those in Britain. With an adjustment made for this “purchasing power parity”, the average American has more spending power than his UK counterpart and pays lower taxes."
So there you have it. After taxes, Americans have more money in their pockets and can purchase more with it. Leave it to the Times to get the headline wrong. Instead of "UK living standards outstrip US. Living standards outstrip those across the Atlantic for first time in over a century." It should have been something like. "Strong Pound Helps UK Income vs. US. But US residents still way ahead in after-tax purchasing power."
And for a humorous take on the amenities available to the average American, check out Bill Bryson's wonderful book on returning to America after 20 years in the UK. He recounts the joys of garbage disposals, ice in drinks as a non-luxury item, among other amusing anecdotes. And even though Bill is way left of me politically, as a writer and observer of the minutiae of life, I have no quarrel!
