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Individualism and Brexit

Big Al
June 24, 2016

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Brexit certainly showed that individualism and self determination still exist.

Discussion
14 Comments
    CFS
    Jun 24, 2016 24:53 AM

    I have no problem with a Scotland exit , for any purpose, but there is no evidence that the EU would financially improve the lot of the Scots, which would take a hit on dropping the subsidies that England sends up north.

      Jun 24, 2016 24:06 AM

      Good point, Professor

    Jun 24, 2016 24:06 AM

    Greenspan is now saying that Greece is not long for the Eurozone irrespective of all else that is going on. Just when we all thought they were to be chained to their fate and their Teutonic master for immortality a snippet of light slipped out.

    Greenspan: “This Is The Worst Period I Recall; There’s Nothing Like It” — Zerohedge
    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-06-24/greenspan-worst-period-i-recall-theres-nothing-it

      CFS
      Jun 24, 2016 24:22 AM

      As intelligent as Greenspan is, he surely must realize the monetary policy is not a substitute for competent fiscal policy.
      Taxation get too highly can never be solved in the long run by money printing.
      Over-spending is never helped by money-printing in the long run.
      And while the cost of excessive debt can be reduced by a reduction of interest rates, it comes at the price of distorting the market economy, and creating mal-investments or bubbles in the capital market.

        CFS
        Jun 24, 2016 24:24 AM

        My iPad changed something to “get”

        Jun 24, 2016 24:26 AM

        Actually he did say something along the lines of monetary policy is not working anymore because the problems we face are fundamentally fiscal issues. So you guessed correctly CFS.

    CFS
    Jun 24, 2016 24:08 AM

    I understand improvement in efficiency by increase in size, but the EU has always struck me as the exception to that rule.
    It has always had a wasteful, inefficient, over-bearing bureaucracy.

    It is strange that in many ways Britain, Germany and the US are politically similar constructs.
    They are all federal republics/democracies where much power was maintained at a local level.
    Yet, for all three, more and more power was being centralized as time passed.
    (This, in my opinion, is not efficiency optimization; and the US founding fathers built in as many safeguards as possible against increasing federalization. Perhaps we are now seeing a worldwide reversal of increasing federalization or centralization.

      Jun 24, 2016 24:24 AM

      Well I would sure be in favour of a lot less government interference in our lives. And a lot less meddling, bureaucratic growth, red tape, regulation, excess taxation and name whatever else you like to add to that list of sins. Governance has become absolutely oppressive all across the globe at every level we know. And the kind of corruption it breeds throughout the whole rotten structure is just stupefying in its scope. Almost nobody could have imagined it would become this bad.

    Jun 24, 2016 24:17 PM

    Who is next to leave? http://prntscr.com/bklo7z

    AJ
    Jun 24, 2016 24:25 PM

    Speaking of red tape:

    The red tape Brexit will deliver
    Posted on June 24 2016

    This has just been posted on the blog by someone who I know to be a retired HMRC VAT specialist:

    As an ex Customs and Excise officer, I wonder if anyone realises that with the end of the Single Market, businesses trading with Europe will have to return to the completion of Customs import and export forms – which in my day had up to 64 boxes of data to be completed for each consignement, instead of the EU Intrastat data which was a one line summary of trade per month by customer/supplier. And if the border controls are to be re-introduced where are the staff going to come from and how much is it going to cost ? Hardly the freedom from bureaucracy promised by the “Outers”

    One of many shocks coming smaller businesses way.

    http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2016/06/24/the-red-tape-brexit-will-deliver/

    AJ
    Jun 24, 2016 24:43 PM

    http://www.vox.com/2016/6/24/12023544/brexit-uk-young-voters

    A quick note on the first three tragedies. Firstly, it was the working classes who voted for us to leave because they were economically disregarded, and it is they who will suffer the most in the short term. They have merely swapped one distant and unreachable elite for another.

    Secondly, the younger generation has lost the right to live and work in 27 other countries. We will never know the full extent of the lost opportunities, friendships, marriages and experiences we will be denied. Freedom of movement was taken away by our parents, uncles, and grandparents in a parting blow to a generation that was already drowning in the debts of our predecessors.

    Thirdly and perhaps most significantly, we now live in a post-factual democracy. When the facts met the myths they were as useless as bullets bouncing off the bodies of aliens in a HG Wells novel. When Michael Gove said, ‘The British people are sick of experts,’ he was right. But can anybody tell me the last time a prevailing culture of anti-intellectualism has led to anything other than bigotry?

    Jun 24, 2016 24:00 PM

    Al,

    Here’s a bit of a building scoop. Some large healthplan providers are terminating coverage, or raising rates dramatically. First, in Colorado, Humana and United are pulling out. And look at some of those double-digit rate increases:

    https://www.healthinsurance.org/colorado-state-health-insurance-exchange/

    Jun 24, 2016 24:01 PM

    Next, Blue Cross is pulling out of Minnesota:

    http://finance.yahoo.com/news/blue-cross-eyes-major-exit-185250535.html

    Jun 24, 2016 24:01 PM

    But that’s just two states. Look at United Health in general…dropping Obamacare everywhere:

    http://kdvr.com/2016/04/19/unitedhealthcare-to-drop-coverage-of-most-obamacare-plans/