Member-only story
Incorrigible gamblers
The British and their Brexit Alleingang
For the British it is to be hoped that the fate of their once glorious manufacturing industry is not the model for what will await them after their retreat from Europe: a universal withering.
Economic growth of 1.8 percent for the next two years instead of the earlier estimate of 4 percent. A government forced to borrow an extra thirty billion pound sterling per year on top of the already towering pile of public debt — just to compensate for the decline in tax revenue caused by the slower growth. American Too Big To Fail-banks losing the ‘passports’ enabling them to access from London the whole of the European Union as one big single market. European TBTF-banks facing another dilemma: abandon London altogether, or scrape together forty billion pound in extra capital for their affiliates in the City. British universities which — however sterling their reputation — already find themselves excluded from the European funds and networks crucial for international scientific research.
So far, all attention has been focused on the disastrous economic results of the British decision to leave the EU. The motive behind the majority for Leave seemed clear, after all: it was the immigration, Stupid. But why have so many Brits become so scared that immigrants will rob them of their jobs and income? Are…
