The cost of living is much higher in the UK than America. Photograph: Steve Lupton/Corbis
Great news from researchers at Oxford Economics: apparently 2008 is the year us Brits become richer than Americans. The last time this was the case, they say, was in the 19th century when Queen Victoria was on the throne.
But don't get too excited. The figures aren't based on our actual incomes, but instead are worked out by dividing the nation's GDP by the number of people who live there. And they don't take into account the cost of living in the different countries surveyed.
With America boasting cheaper goods and services than the UK, can we really claim to be richer than them? Ian Nelson seems to sum it up on his blog:
If only everything wasn't so bloody expensive on this side of the pond, maybe we could start to feel the benefits!
With energy prices set to rise by 15%, mortgage costs on the up, despite a base rate cut, and petrol prices set to stay above £1 a litre, it looks as if the costly is about to get costlier. So can anyone expect to feel better off in 2008? Or is this another case where the numbers and our experiences just don't add up?
