Anglo-Saxon economy

Anglo-Saxon capitalism (so called because it is largely practiced in English speaking countries such as Canada, the UK and the United States) is a capitalist macroeconomic model in which levels of regulation and taxes are low. In addition, Anglo-Saxon economies generally are more 'liberal' and free-market oriented than other capitalist economies in the world.

Countries in mainland Europe (such as France, Italy and Germany) possess different models of capitalism, which involve greater amounts of regulation and taxation. However in contemporary times, such models have been cited by some economists as the cause of the relatively poor economic performances of these countries over the past decade.

In contrast, the Anglo-Saxon economies of the G8 (Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States of America) over the same period have experienced higher GDP growth and lower unemployment.

Disagreement over meaning

The term anglo-saxon to denote the English-speaking world originated from the standard French idea of le monde anglo-saxon. Anglo-Saxon more accurately refers either to the language spoken in the area which would become England, or the people of these areas, after the arrival of Germanic tribes, primarily Angles and Saxons, in the 5th Century. The expression became associated with an economic idea as it is used regularly in France, often to exemplify the economically "liberal" approach of English-speaking, in contrast to France's own dirigiste economy.

There is still a question to whether or not there really is such a thing as an "anglo-saxon" economy. Both the UK and Canada have much higher levels of taxation than the US and spend far more on the welfare state as a percentage of GDP. For example the UK spends 21.8% of GDP on welfare and state-funded healthcare, significantly lower than France or Germany, but still higher than Spain, Portugal or the Netherlands, all in mainland Europe, and far higher than the USA's 14.8%.

See also: Anglosphere