That doesn't have to be true. There is zero correlation between the economic model and wellbeing of a population. If you look at the countries with the happiest populations and other things such as who has the best healthcare, all of the best countries are capitalist. However, it is how they utilise capitalism that makes the difference.
The biggest change in the UK economy over the last 20 years has been the transfer of wealth from UK based business to massive global foreign entities, especially in terms of physical goods.
We are now more likely to buy something made in China and sold by Amazon instead of something that could potentially be made up the road. Unfortunately most people in the north are skilled up to work in these sort of sectors and that's where a lot of people have been left behind. The only work available for these people is to work for a foreign company such as Toyota or Honda where the reward and profits are sent back to Japan.
Most UK wealth now comes from the export of services but the majority of the population doesn't really participate in that economy. The City of London for example is responsible for what 5-10% of GDP? However does 10% of the population work in the City? Definitely not.
So as a government what do you do? I'd guess that virtually all growth at the moment is coming from the services sector and that is masking zero growth or contraction in other sectors. We can look at taxation on services but the service sector is unfortunately very well placed to just move elsewhere.
