411–420 of 1001 posts
I truly do not understand our society. Europe is split, even if the countries aren't, the people are. Every political decision ends up being a race of the well-educated against the less-educated. The clash of classes happens not only in Europe, the Trump success is the same story. Maybe I'm just too young and uninformed to understand and that's how the world works ever since?
As other comments have noted, the point is that the EU will not want to give the UK a good deal on leaving, because the EU does not want to give any encouragement to the other countries which want to leave the EU (some of which want to leave more strongly than the UK do - apparently). Secondly, why would the UK end up with a Norway or Switzerland deal, when the UK is the 5th largest economy in the world? This is unpr…
The UK had a good deal. They had what Norway has, plus actual influence as a full member, plus many opt-outs. They've rejected it. What kind of good deal would they even be looking for?
Is Scotland going to be exiting the UK next? Guess we'll see in a few years. Hard to know what will happen here, but I suspect once the UK (or what's left of it) signs a trade deal with the EU, they'll get the same deal as Norway - all the compliance with EU regulations, with none of the say. I suppose people may be happy with that deal, as long as they can get to say they're "free". I'm hoping this somehow leave the…
Scotland coming back to the EU would be great, but not easy, since lots of EU countries would be willing to prevent it in order to make an example for their own separatist regions (Catalonia / Basque Country in Spain, for example)
Is now a good time to invest in British currency? Are there some good resources for how to do that?
I can't imagine that it would be a good idea for you to invest in anything when you have to rely on the judgment of internet strangers if it's a "good time" to do so.
If you disagree, I have a really fine bridge to sell you in London.
> In my opinion, the chances of any sort of war at this point remain pretty low. I would have said the same thing 4 or 5 years ago, but in the meantime we did in fact have a war in Europe, I'm talking about the war in Eastern Ukraine (which is still part of Europe). But you're sort of right, who can think of something like that spreading to the Western side of the continent? Until last night I would would have answer…
There is nothing inherently "good" about those concepts, so I don't see how you can claim it bad that a politician is against them.
Is treating people fairly a good that we should all aspire to? Yes (I would say)? Then respect a peoples' wish to stay sovereign and keep people they don't want from entering their country. It's not all that different from private property, just on a much larger scale.
So, devil's advocate here: Can someone explain to me why this is a bad thing? I feel like most educated people seem to think this is terrible (and the markets seem to agree), but to me, the European union seems like an anti-democratic institution that doesn't really provide much value. I mean, don't me wrong, removing trade barriers is probably good. But won't the UK just be able to pretty quickly renegotiate basical…
you can't really negotiate trade tariffs without agreeing on consistent regulation (i.e. you won't be able to sell stuff which is illegal in the EU). So basically you end up in the same position, having to abide by EU regulation, but without having weight in the decisional process. It's silly, really. FWIW, there is a host of things where nothing will change, as most treaties don't get invalidated and the UK is still…
I think this should be a wake up call for those of us who are American. Populist movements that rely heavily on anger, fear, and anti-immigration rhetoric can still be effective in western democracies even if a large majority of experts think it shouldn't and won't happen. This is the first time I have legitimately thought we might end up with a Trump presidency.
The fact that enough people think this way (I've had people say your comment to me in person, but not nearly as nicely) just shows how far out of touch things are. Instead of just yelling bigot/racist/etc., I think Trump's opposition needs to actually listen and see what people are really seeing in him. Otherwise they're in for a big surprise. (FWIW I'd never have considered a US right or nominally conservative before.)
As other comments have noted, the point is that the EU will not want to give the UK a good deal on leaving, because the EU does not want to give any encouragement to the other countries which want to leave the EU (some of which want to leave more strongly than the UK do - apparently). Secondly, why would the UK end up with a Norway or Switzerland deal, when the UK is the 5th largest economy in the world? This is unpr…
The EU is talking survival. The UK will get indeed a bad deal. And the rest of the EU will stick together even closer. I hear "fiscal harmonization", e.g. common taxation is the new big thing.