UK can bounce back, says commentator

In the latest issue of the Deloitte Economic Review, economic adviser Roger Bootle, above, notes that the UK seems to be entering a period of national despair about its economic performance.

He said: "After a difficult period over the next couple of years, I see no reason why the UK cannot return to being a relative outperformer."

Mr Bootle expects real gross domestic product growth in the UK in 2010 of just one per cent, compared to growth of 1.5 per cent in the eurozone, three per cent in the United States and Japan and 3.5 per cent globally.

He said: "It would be futile to benchmark the UK's performance against fast-growing developing economies that the UK, even with a decent performance by its past standards, is never going to beat over a prolonged period.

"The appropriate bellwethers for the UK are similarly sized and developed Western countries – most obviously France, Italy and Germany. And I see no reason why the UK should lose ground against these economies."

He concluded: "There is still everything to play for. "The UK bounced back after the 1980s and 1990s recessions, he said. "My money is on the UK staging a third national resurgence."