By GDP per head, in 1870 the UK was the richest large country in the world, becoming second to the USA by 1913, falling to fourth in 1950, eighth in 1973 and twelfth in 1989. It briefly rose to ninth by 2008 when the effects of the 1986 Big Bang and the subsequent unsustainable banking boom made themselves known, but has fallen ever since that date, dropping faster and faster with each passing year so that it will soon be outside the top two dozen, if current trends continue.66 Brexit may well accelerate that process.
