An area I don’t see much discussion on is the double whammy impact of Brexit AND Covid. Both have permanently reshaped live in UK and both landed within months of each other.
In the UK it has basically been a massive injection of inequality.
Universal basic income, known as UBI is one tool to enable this. Removed inequality and equally, restores dignity and makes benefits and the lambasting and disdain of those in that position a thing of the past.
I'd rather have money printing be used for long-term investments, all things being equal.
But if it can be done, I'd rather inject it in the real economy rather than in the stock market and second-hand real estate. Multiple things could have been done to do that. Rent freeze + automatic social security payments (rather than paying the business, you pay the now inactive employees until the economy starts again) would have been great.
The Brexit vote was June 2016. The withdrawal agreement was first drafted in 2018. The business impact was being felt for years before Covid as uncertainty and confusion affected investment.
I think you can safely cancel out Covid and Putin when comparing the way living standards and cost of living have changed over the last decade between the UK and countries like France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, etc.