The world economy is changing significantly. Low cost and highly competitive developing countries are having an increasing impact on all developed Western economies, not least of all here in Britain. We are, de facto, currently exporting much of our manufacturing industry to China and other parts of the Far East. Hardly a week goes by without another announcement that service jobs are moving to India. Under these circumstances, the rich, high cost Western economies will simply have to raise their game if they are going to maintain, never mind improve, their global competitiveness. Standing still is not an option. And going backwards is even less of an option.
