Why is Britain moving north?

摘要

Better jobs and brighter lights mean that, for years, thousands have headed southwards from Scotland and northern England. The concentration of people and economic growth in the south has led the government to announce plans to shift thousands of bureaucrats out to the provinces. But recent figures show that the usual pattern has already reversed, and people are moving north (see chart). There is much debate as to why this is happening. One explanation is the disparity in house prices between the north and the south. The slowdown in the northern exodus began when southern houses became more than twice as expensive as northern homes. The bigger the gap, the harder it is for northerners to move south. At the same time, the price differential makes moving north more attractive to southerners, which is partly why northern house prices have recently risen faster than southern prices. And these days, people can respond more easily to house prices: e-mail enables them to cash in their London houses, move out of the city and keep working.