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Bloomberg

The Doom-Mongering About Britain Is Overdone

Britain is in fiscal dire straits, faces an imminent threat of serious civil disorder, is seeing many of its wealthy head for the exits, and has a rudderless and divided government that's unequal to the task. But the sense of crisis pervading much reporting and discussion on the state of the nation isn't doing the public psyche any good. The country badly needs a better story. Are things really as bad as the drumbeat of doom emanating from social media and newspapers would suggest? The picture is skewed, I would argue. The UK has some real and pressing fiscal challenges, but it's hardly alone in that; France's situation is arguably worse. The protesters who descended on asylum hotels in Epping and Canary Wharf were relatively small in number and included the usual suspects from far right and left — hardly evidence that Britain's entire social fabric is coming apart. Reports of a wealth exodus have rested on some dubious research commissioned by vested interests. The government, for all its missteps, remains in place with a huge majority. And so on.