Is it back to the 1970s for the UK economy? Yes, but not in the way you think

When Marc Bolan was urging us to Get It On, life in the UK was very different but now, as then, pitiful levels of business investment make us all poorer

Britain is suffering a catastrophic economic shock that resembles the one that knocked the economy sideways in the 1970s, but strike action by workers offered below-inflation pay rises ranks low on the list of similarities.

The UK is being affected by inflationary pressures and steadily rising wage demands, but both remain modest by comparison with the 1970s. Much more important are the circumstances of 21st-century life, which are very different from those that prevailed almost five decades ago.