Even by the official statistics, the UK is in a recession again:
UK economy contracts by a shock 0.7pc. The figures from the Office for National Statistics are much worse than forecasts for a 0.2pc contraction. It marks the third successive quarter of contraction, leaving Britain in its longest double-dip recession in more than 50 years. The economy shrank by 0.3pc in the first quarter of the year, following a 0.4pc contraction in the final quarter of 2011.
Have a look at the large chart. UK GDP hasn’t been above 0.5% “growth” since the third quarter of 2007, and if one takes into account the margin of error in the various statistical revisions as well as the increasing G portion of GDP, it should be readily apparent that there has been no actual economic growth since then even if we follow the Keynesian lead in ignoring debt.
However, this isn’t a “double-dip recession” as is presently being reported, it is an ongoing economic depression that began in 2007 at the latest, and quite possibly as far back as 2001.