Various economics blogs I follow are buzzing with the news that talented professionals are leaving Britain in droves. Various theories have been put forward, but mainly they seem to agree with The Telegraph‘s original assertion that “high house prices and taxes and poor climate” are the prime culprits. The Economist notes, “Given the strength of the pound and the ongoing American housing market meltdown, a Briton can now purchase most of Phoenix for the price of a Chelsea broom closet.” Quite.

Megan McArdle takes a different tack. She blames it all on London. I’m waiting for Andrew Wheeler to again suggest that people who find London too expensive should move to Poland or somewhere else cheap in the EU.

I’ll certainly go with the housing price issue. Even here in Darkest Somerset rents are at a similar level to the Bay Area (Californians – imagine if the San Francisco housing price bubble extended all the way to Yuba City and Fresno). On the basis of recent run-ins that my mother and I have had with the NHS I might also suggest that people are going in search of decent health care. Yes, you might have to pay more elsewhere, but the service you get will be considerably less arrogant and less incompetent. American readers please take note: if you get your health care for “free” you get what you pay for.

And finally, from personal experience, there’s always the matter of being able to get a job. In theory the UK has all sorts of wonderful employment legislation that protects you from being discriminated against. In practice this means that any company of ever moderate size now has a corporate HR department through whom all recruitment must go in order to ensure that the company never hires anyone who might, if fired, be able to claim they were discriminated against. So now employment discrimination is far worse than it ever was before. Regardless of any other issues, at my age that means no chance of a job, period.

Bottom line: the only thing keeping me here is that I’m also too old to get permanent residency anywhere else.