Britain’s stunted ‘recovery’ leaves us wishing for what might have been | Jonathan Portes

So household incomes are back to 2007 levels. This isn't evidence of success but confirmation of how dismal economic performance has been

Household incomes are back to 2007 levels, before the crisis - though still below their 2009-10 peak. Does this in some way vindicate the government's economic strategy? For most economists, even asking that question is bizarre. As the UK has got richer, average incomes have grown pretty consistently since the second world war. And after recessions, they have grown particularly fast - for example, between 1982 and 1985 they grew by about 3% a year.

But this "recovery" has been different. As Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, puts it: "It's astonishing actually that seven years later incomes are still no higher than they were pre-recession, and indeed for working-age households they're still a bit below where they were pre-recession." For the chancellor, George Osborne, to claim this as evidence of economic success - "a major milestone in our recovery", he told BBC Radio 4 today - is not really credible.

Related: UK household incomes near pre-banking crisis levels, thinktank claims

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