A potentially useful juxtaposition of reports and a sign of the times:
by Gary Tedman


23 July 2010 Last updated at 01:30 GMT
Health gap 'wider than in Great Depression'

By Nick Triggle Health reporter, BBC News
"...The health inequality gap in Britain is greater than it was during the post-World War I slump and the Great Depression, a study suggests.
Despite the continued rise in life expectancy, it is well documented that the gap between richest and poorest has actually been widening in recent years.
Researchers from Sheffield and Bristol looked at early death rates since 1921.

They found the current gap was greater than it was in the 1920s and 1930s, the British Medical Journal reports.
(…)
The researchers analysed mortality data for England and Wales, obtained from the Office for National Statistics, and for Scotland, obtained from the General Register Office for Scotland.

Between 1999 to 2007, for every 100 deaths before the age of 65 in the richest 10th of areas, there were 212 in the poorest 10th.
This compared with 191 deaths in the poorest areas from 1921 to 1930 and 185 deaths from 1931 to 1939.
These decades cover probably the toughest economic and social period of the 20th century. ..."
quoted from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10730095



Bankers in the pink as austerity measures by-pass Square Mile
City traders are starting to party again thanks to bonus pots that are defying hard times

· Alexandra Topping and Gemma Kappala-Ramsamy

· guardian.co.uk, Friday 23 July 2010 18.54 BST

"As the sun dipped below the London skyline on a perfect summer's evening, a queue formed outside the lift leading to the Coq d'Argent, one of the Square Mile's top restaurants. In its roof garden, champagne popped and glasses were being filled to the brim after the City had a first glimpse of the billions that will be paid in bonuses at the end of the year. There was little sign of the austerity facing the rest of the country.
'The City is buoyant,' said the head of a firm that supplies technology to the financial services sector. 'Six months ago they were fearful, but now they're coming out again. There's loads of money out there but no one talks about it.'…"
quoted from http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/23/banks-bonuses-boom