Bank on Britain

14.11.22: BRITAIN IS CELEBRATING the recent decision of the EuroFed ­ formerly the European Central Bank ­ to move from Frankfurt to London.

The move confirms Britain as Europe's strongest economy and was made all but certain by the government's recent decision to take sterling into the euro-dollar. Germany fought tooth and nail to keep the bank in Frankfurt but was finally forced to concede defeat when Britain threatened to block a E$100 billion plan to bail out the bankrupt welfare systems of France, Germany and Italy.

Since the 1990s, economists have warned of the demographic time-bomb ticking away as pensioners became more numerous and the ranks of those of working age diminished. By 2020, the welfare systems run by Paris, Rome and Berlin were in crisis. Britain experienced no such problems. Higher birth rates gave it a greater ratio of tax-paying workers to welfare-receiving pensioners and most of the income of the over-65s came from private pensions rather than the state. DS