The Negative Consequences of Brexit Start to Sink In

"I told you so" is becoming a common refrain in the United Kingdom [UK] as the negative consequences of Brexit become more apparent. Rarely has a nation gone through so much trouble to shoot itself in the foot. International companies are moving their operations to the European Union [EU], UK growth has stalled, and Scotland is again considering independence.

In March, Kimberly Amadeo of "The Balance" published a well documented, fair and thorough assessment of the negative ramifications of the UK's Brexit decision. The bottom line; leaving the EU will mean slower growth, more expensive products, less trade, and a depleted workforce.

And, perhaps the most hilarious headline this week regarding the whole mess was this one in the Financial Times of London; "UK steps up plans to train 50,000 form fillers for post-Brexit trade." In order to process the paperwork for the trade between the UK and Europe that used to pass tax free and without customs clearance, the British government will now train up to 50,000 people to fill in customs forms for post-Brexit trade. To provide some context, that is about twice the number of people that serve in the Royal Navy. And these folks will be filling out forms that, among other things, include a tariff or tax on every item sold between the UK and the EU. What a great idea!

Jonathan Myerson, of the New York Times Review published a very funny and insightful piece this week titled "From Brexit to Covid: A Very British Debacle," that tries to explain why the British have plunged ahead with Brexit even as every economist and financial analyst warned against it.

Myerson: "Britain today is no longer a country divided by left vs. right or new vs. trad. Instead, this is a nation split between the Won’t-Be-Tolds and the Will-Be-Tolds. The latter know that the only way out of a mess (any mess) is shared, multinational decision-making and cooperation. For the former, rejecting reality has become a thrilling end in itself: the new opium of these people is to deny unanimous evidence and well-researched advice. “No one’s going to tell us what to do” has become the whole of their sermon. And the idea of any kind of supra-national governance is treated as tantamount to enemy occupation."

"Famously, Michael Gove, one of Brexit’s foremost Leavers, when confronted with an obstinate fact by an interviewer during the 2016 referendum campaign, declared: “People in this country have had enough of experts.” Half the country experienced a lurch of nausea, the other half let out a whoop. But this fierce paleo-rejectionism was exactly what Leave voters wanted to hear. They knew the post-Brexit promises were lies and it didn’t matter. What does matter now to half the country is the chance Never To Be Told, either by experts or anyone else, let alone Johnny Foreigner."

Sound familiar?

#news #Brexit

By: Don Lam & Curated Content