Where we are At the end of August Britain’s Labour Party formally announced its policy towards future relations with the European Union. The policy document explicitly “accepts the referendum result” and will “build a close new relationship with the EU”. The British media chose to emphasize not EU employment rights or environment protections but Labour’s […]
Fallacies of Brexit: Personifying Countries & Simplistic Polemics
Babbling Brexit The British media provides a consistently misleading version of the process of UK disengagement from EU membership. The term used for this process, “Brexit”, is itself a substantial source of misguidance and obfuscation. The consistently poor reporting and misinterpretation have a clear cause. The British media continues to fight the in/out battle rather […]
“I’m All Right, Jack” In The Eurozone
False Dawn Those of my generation will remember well 1959’s hilarious and biting satire on the British class system, “I’m all right, Jack”, which included several of the country’s most famous and best-loved comedy actors (Ian Carmichael, Peter Sellers, Terry Thomas and Margaret Rutherford, plus the future president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, […]
Smooth Brexit In Interests Of Germany As Much As UK
There is a general perception in the UK that the remaining EU states, and Germany especially, would like to punish Britain for withdrawing from the European Union. This would mean Britain out in the cold, no trade deal, and potentially a fine to make up for lost payments. The problem here is that it is generally […]
Brexit, The UK Economy And Public Policy: Discredit Where Discredit Is Due
In the wake of the formal invoking of Article 50 by Prime Minister Theresa May, no one knows with certainty the impact on the UK economy of leaving the European Union. Claims of imminent damage and possible disaster should be treated at best as informed speculation and at worst as more of the dysfunctional fear […]
Crisis Of Governance: EU Democratic Deficit
In the wake of the Brexit referendum and with the Greek government once more facing the possibility of a forced Grexit, the limitations of EU governance loom large. Rather than bidding Britain a sad and reluctant adieu, “wayward sister go in peace”, some EU leaders seem intent on making the separation as expensive and unpleasant […]
Euro Is The Problem, Not The Union
Year of Referendum Disasters In 2016 the European Union both as an organization and hope for a better and more peaceful future suffered at least two serious and possibly mortal blows: the British “in/out” referendum gave a direct hit, while the constitutional plebiscite five months later in Italy delivered a glancing blow that might yet […]
An EU Agenda For Reform Not Business As Usual
Boldly pursuing business-as-usual Hailed by one commentator as “bold”, the speech to the European Parliament by Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker would more accurately qualify as shifting deckchairs on the Titanic in anticipation of its rendezvous with an iceberg. The bold proposals in question were modest in number and more modest in content. The two would-be […]
Eurozone Stagnation: Wrong Diagnosis, Wrong Medicine, No Recovery
What the EC Doctors Said If a doctor misdiagnoses a patient’s malady and prescribes an inappropriate medicine, we would not expect recovery to good health. Should the doctor persist in the faulty diagnosis and prescribe further doses of the wrong medicine, the wise patient seeks a second opinion. As evidenced by the experience of Greece […]
Eurozone’s So-Called Recovery Masks A Dark Secret: Mercantilism
Broad opposition in Europe to the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership has prompted its supporters to summon the “protectionist” spectre. In response to the criticism of TTIP by US presidential candidates and progressive politicians in Europe they, according to media reports, are talking up the end of “free trade” that has allegedly brought so many […]
The Six-Pack: EU Mandate For Bad Economic Policy
History provides many examples of authoritarian rule achieved through formally democratic procedures. To these we should add the EU Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance (TSCG, also known as the “Six Pack”), adopted by 25 democratically elected EU governments (all but the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom). On an EU website we find the […]
Why We Need To Rewrite The Maastricht Rules
The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht that lay the basis for the euro committed signing governments to several economic targets. Subsequent treaties and protocols made these targets stricter. The targets suffer from serious technical mis-specification. The problems of the criteria have their basis in a fundamental flaw that must be recognized and corrected to prevent further economic […]
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