History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes – and economic history is no exception. In 1964, a Labour government came to power in the UK with a pledge to curb inflation and to deliver growth. The growth plans were short lived. In 2024, in a cost-of-living crisis, Labour again won an election with a promise to “kick-start economic growth”. Only 18 months in, and plans have stalled again.

Weak economic growth has led to questions about whether the UK is once again the “sick man of Europe”. This echoes an earlier trope, the “British disease”, which described Britain’s poor economic performance from the 1950s to the 1970s. Compared to other European countries, Britain saw low investment, low productivity and low economic growth.

The British disease term peaked in the late 1970s, then slipped out of use as the country’s economic performance improved from the 1980s through to the early 2000s. But Britain’s more recent collapse in productivity growth has led to a new term: the “productivity puzzle”. Perhaps, instead of a puzzle, this should be understood as relapse into the old British disease.

In essence, the British disease described the relative decline of a nation that had led the world during the industrial revolution. It was the........

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