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Amazon’s UK FBA operations will be split from the EU

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Re: Amazon’s UK FBA operations will be split from the EU

#201

Post by scott_w »

rwmj wrote: post #162
scott_w wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which would have the knock-on effect of making EU food competitive in the UK but UK food non-competitive in the EU. Basically, making UK food industries less competitive.

That's before you get to WTO MFN which would mean we would have to reduce tariffs to zero not just for the EU but for the whole of the world, so our farmers would be competing against low wages everywhere. It would devastate our farmers in short order.

Yeah, I thought about this but I honestly don't know enough about how it works e.g. are countries allowed to bar food from coming into a country for not meeting safety standards even though they've set global tariffs to 0?

My gut says "yes" which is why I decided to shy away from that part.

Re: Amazon’s UK FBA operations will be split from the EU

#202

Post by scott_w »

xkyscore wrote: post #164
scott_w wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel you over-play the economic discussion, at least insofar as it was at the forefront. While economic "freedom" was pushed by the official campaign, however, you can't deny the widespread publicity of the Nazi-esque "Breaking Point" poster. Anecdotally, I saw people pushing to vote Brexit to stop "the scum of Eastern Europe" from coming here and taxi drivers who voted Brexit to "kick the P *s out" (ethnic slur fo…

It always baffles me when people claim "Paki" is an ethnic slur when used for Pakistani citizens. Do you consider "Brit" for a British citizen to be an ethnic slur as well?

No because "Brit" is never used as an ethnic slur.

For a good example of P* being used in a derogatory form, watch Bend it like Beckham, where it's used against an Indian girl because of the colour of her skin.

Re: Amazon’s UK FBA operations will be split from the EU

#203

Post by smileypete »

m0xte wrote: post #39
sharken wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not saying this isn't bad for the UK, but this is one of the very real consequences of opting out of the EU. But perhaps this might break some of the Amazon dominance and make way for other options - that would be a real benefit.

Amazon solved a fairly large problem with retailers here. They were shit and abusive to the customers. It’ll just slip back to the status quo again if we lose amazon dominance I hate to say. I’d rather prefer it if that wasn’t the case for ref but I know British culture well enough to know that we’re lazy and selfish.

>Amazon solved a fairly large problem with retailers here. They were shit and abusive to the customers.

So what's all this 'comingling' thing about then? I assure you that if AMZN becomes dominant, customer service will get worse not better. Bezos is not a charity.

>I’d rather prefer it if that wasn’t the case for ref but I know British culture well enough to know that we’re lazy and selfish.

Substitute 'Romanian' for 'British' then ask if your racism still sounds OK to you.

Re: Amazon’s UK FBA operations will be split from the EU

#204

Post by eeh »

rsynnott wrote: post #170
eeh wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it the average Joe, or is it the 95th percentile idiot that happens to get attention?

Polling has repeatedly shown very widespread public confusion over what Brexit will actually do. Even many remain voters don’t realise all the downsides.

> Polling has repeatedly shown very widespread public confusion over what Brexit will actually do.

I can believe that.

> Even many remain voters don’t realise all the downsides.

I can believe that, but what makes the confusion one-way? i.e. do leave voters realise all the upsides?

Re: Amazon’s UK FBA operations will be split from the EU

#205

Post by rwmj »

scott_w wrote: post #201
rwmj wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's before you get to WTO MFN which would mean we would have to reduce tariffs to zero not just for the EU but for the whole of the world, so our farmers would be competing against low wages everywhere. It would devastate our farmers in short order.

Yeah, I thought about this but I honestly don't know enough about how it works e.g. are countries allowed to bar food from coming into a country for not meeting safety standards even though they've set global tariffs to 0? My gut says "yes" which is why I decided to shy away from that part.

Yes, those are the famous NTBs (non-tariff barriers). Since tariffs, apart from agriculture, are generally very low nowadays a lot of aim of free trade agreements is about reducing NTBs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-tariff_barriers_to_trade

Re: Amazon’s UK FBA operations will be split from the EU

#206

Post by rsynnott »

eeh wrote: post #204
rsynnott wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Polling has repeatedly shown very widespread public confusion over what Brexit will actually do. Even many remain voters don’t realise all the downsides.

> Polling has repeatedly shown very widespread public confusion over what Brexit will actually do. I can believe that. > Even many remain voters don’t realise all the downsides. I can believe that, but what makes the confusion one-way? i.e. do leave voters realise all the upsides?

I mean, not being funny, but, what upsides?

The upsides of Brexit are generally, at best, very subjective and ephemeral (‘sovereignty’ in the sense of passport colour change) or outright imaginary (the EU is banning kettles and jam).

Re: Amazon’s UK FBA operations will be split from the EU

#207

Post by m0xte »

smileypete wrote: post #203
m0xte wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon solved a fairly large problem with retailers here. They were shit and abusive to the customers. It’ll just slip back to the status quo again if we lose amazon dominance I hate to say. I’d rather prefer it if that wasn’t the case for ref but I know British culture well enough to know that we’re lazy and selfish.

>Amazon solved a fairly large problem with retailers here. They were shit and abusive to the customers. So what's all this 'comingling' thing about then? I assure you that if AMZN becomes dominant, customer service will get worse not better. Bezos is not a charity. >I’d rather prefer it if that wasn’t the case for ref but I know British culture well enough to know that we’re lazy and selfish. Substitute 'Romanian' fo…

I doubt it.

As for your second point, that’s possibly the worst straw man I’ve ever heard.

Re: Amazon’s UK FBA operations will be split from the EU

#208

Post by rsynnott »

toyg wrote: post #139
rsynnott wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is not what the “no downsides, only considerable upsides” crowd expected. Remember that a lot of people, and dodgy newspapers, still cry ‘project fear’ at any expert opinion, so concrete consequences like this are going to shock some people.

> not what the “no downsides, only considerable upsides” crowd expected. Oh no, most of them expected this sort of thing. They just stated otherwise to persuade the rubes.

Not sure about that. Notoriously, David Davis, arch-brexiter, didn’t realise the UK couldn’t negotiate separate trade deals with EU states until after the Brexit vote. A lot of them are just confused.

Re: Amazon’s UK FBA operations will be split from the EU

#209

Post by eeh »

rsynnott wrote: post #206
eeh wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Polling has repeatedly shown very widespread public confusion over what Brexit will actually do. I can believe that. > Even many remain voters don’t realise all the downsides. I can believe that, but what makes the confusion one-way? i.e. do leave voters realise all the upsides?

I mean, not being funny, but, what upsides? The upsides of Brexit are generally, at best, very subjective and ephemeral (‘sovereignty’ in the sense of passport colour change) or outright imaginary (the EU is banning kettles and jam).

As a remain voter, I'm not best to advocate for the strengths of leave. As I'm sure you're aware, debate between remain and leave is difficult. Characterising sovereignty concerns as "passport colour change" won't start the conversation on the right path, however.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29607906-why-vote-leave was a good book for understanding some benefits of Leave.

Please don't discredit the positions or the book solely from my my hazy memory of the book, but here goes:

* EU is a weakening trade bloc, so we're better off out of the customs union, and making trade deals that work for UK, rather than that work for the EU (example: cheaper tomatoes from Africa, that the EU will not make, since it'll make Spain/Italy worse off)

* UK's voting patterns within EU was anomolous: UK voted against policies far more than other countries anyway.

* UK public seems to have a max acceptable rate of immigration, and we may prefer more selective immigration policies (e.g. target the high skilled workers in India, China, Australia)

Those are meant to pique your interest in the book. I don't think starting a debate on HN will be productive, at least because I barely remember the book.

Re: Amazon’s UK FBA operations will be split from the EU

#210

Post by DanBC »

easytiger wrote: post #188
DanBC wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Class is still a big thing in the UK: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/mar/25/too-poor-to-p...

I don't think you understand what class is. I'm familiar with the above story and it is beyond nonsense. A communal facility maintained and paid for by some people doesn't necessarily have to be made available to anyone else. If your back garden was in sight of someone living in social housing ought they be able to make use of your property?

Most UK doctors and barristers went to fee-paying schools: https://www.businessinsider.com/most-uk-journalists-doctors-...
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