It's the economy

With all the contradictory figures on the news about the economy, here is a simple formula, based on primary accounting, to test the bullshit component of what you hear against the reality.

I remember in the 80s the formula was an average postman in America earned about three times more than in Britain, and could afford the equivalent house three times more expensive than in Britain, so the average standard of living in America was determined by how much most people earned compared with the price of a house. In Britain today the average house price is ten times above average income, from maybe four times in the 70s, while wages haven't risen for almost a decade.

In a nutshell. Whatever the politicians tell you the economy's fucked. And they did it.