Interestingly enough, the Times of London screws up the hed, titling it UK Living Standards Outstrip US, which is inaccurate.

In terms of standard of living, when you look at things like health care costs, university costs, decent transit alternatives to autos, and a social safety net, western Europe has been ahead of the US for well over a decade.

A number of people have blown this off as an “artifact” of currency changes, but the fact of the matter is that the $US has been artificially high since at least the end of WWII, because of the US dollar’s preeminent position as the world’s reserve currency.