BREXIT: UK members might want to consider GAS before the June 23 referendum

[Roger Hicks]

Well, this 'knuckle-dragger' went to primary school in Brussels, and was consequently able to converse with collaborators at the likes of Matra (as it then was) in their own language, as well has having good personal and professional engineering relations with others in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and elsewhere.
This, by the way, was in projects of the type that were in place both before, and after, the UK joined the EEC, and could continue after the UK leaves the EU. For many international things, membership, or not, of the EU, is immaterial.

'Europe', with its many admirable cultures, is not to be conflated with the 'European Union', although there are dishonest attempts to imply that they are the same thing.

I wish to be governed by a Parliament that I and my fellow citizens can elect and dismiss.
The EU leadership has demonstrated that it will not voluntarily reform, and will not listen to the citizens. 'Alle Menschen werden Brüder' is not possible inside the EU now, and things are getting worse. There is no point in the UK staying in to 'help'; we are regularly out-voted on material issues. We can first save ourselves outside.

The leaving process will be gradual, and the economics will adjust themselves; the economy is not a 'linear' system.

John.

Dear John,

There are without doubt arguments in favour of Brexit. Immigration, however, is not one of them. If the UK votes for Brexit, it will be because the knuckle draggers ally with people who have actually thought about the issues.

Cheers,

R.

 

[David Hughes]

...I wish to be governed by a Parliament that I and my fellow citizens can elect and dismiss...

John.

Hi,

But we can elect British MP's and European MP's (like NF) but how we dismiss our MP's is beyond me and I've given a lot of thought to it. This "it's undemocratic" argument about Europe baffles me.

As for being citizens I thought we were all subjects...

Regards, David

 

[jarski]

I think that whatever happens on Thursday, The EU is already taking the lesson. ...

hmmm is it really?

I was enthusiastic supporter of EU in early 2000's, but first the problem with Greek finances and later the immigration has made me quite sceptic. seems that in every pressure point, EU nations are like pack of birds flying in different directions. so far I haven't seen anything that would change it in any ways.

 

[lukitas]

(snip) independence - as much as can be had in this situation - is always better than "sharing" with other liberal states. islamists are slowly winning western europe under the current setup. freedom is doomed unless it drastically changes ...

Never got that, how being liberal makes islam conquer Europe. Where does this silly idea come from? Europe is not being conquered : to the contrary, the middle east is losing its' best and brightest to the lure of german cars, kitchen appliances end karaoke nights.

Freedom is doomed unless we put a stop to it. I've seen that argument before.

As for the Brexit, both in and out teams are led by rich men, with slightly differing ideas about how to become even richer. Suckers like us will lose out whichever side wins.

You did make me laugh out loud, Paulfish!

 

[sevo]

Hi,

But we can elect British MP's and European MP's (like NF) but how we dismiss our MP's is beyond me and I've given a lot of thought to it. This "it's undemocratic" argument about Europe baffles me.

Well, it is not entirely wrong, in that the power balance in the EU leans strongly towards the Council (i.e. the chamber of the national governments of the member states). The demcratically elected (supranational) European Parliament is limited to occasional vetoes. This is very much the wrong way around - a second chamber of federal state representatives is not that uncommon in democracies, but giving them the powers of the first chamber puts the whole thing off balance.

But it is the nationalists that put the council (as a place where the national governments representative has a say) above the parliament (where it would be a all-European fraction of sister parties). But as long as the majority feel that politics should be British or German (regardless of orientation) rather than socialist or conservative (regardless of nation) it will be hard to put an end to that...

 

[paulfish4570]

i think you are wrong, lukitas. the EU will be brussels some day ...

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

One of the jokes about a second house is that we in Britain have the House of Lords. A very democratic place where you either inherit a seat, get one through political patronage or else have to be an archbishop or bishop... And they lecture us and you about democracy.

One thing I will give to (vague) Europe is that they are doing nasty things to naughty bankers and so on. Our lot just seem to talk about it until pushed by Europe and then they try to water things down. That alone is a good reason to stay in Europe. Especially as it will undermine that fine British tradition of having one law for the rich and another for the poor.

Regards, David

 

[David Hughes]

hmmm is it really?

I was enthusiastic supporter of EU in early 2000's, but first the problem with Greek finances and later the immigration has made me quite sceptic. seems that in every pressure point, EU nations are like pack of birds flying in different directions. so far I haven't seen anything that would change it in any ways.

But they / we do seem to agree about a lot of things. As I see it getting 9 out of 10 right is brilliant for politicians. Not that I think they've reached 9 yet.

Regards, David

 

[raid]

Hi,

I thought they'd done that already.

Regards, David

he he he

Who knows!:bang:

 

[Out to Lunch]

George Soros, the single most successful hedge-manager of this century, aka ''the man who broke the Bank of England'' is predicting a sharp fall of the British Pound if and when Brexit happens: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36582026


[...] Sixty years of investing experience had taught him that the only winners would be financial speculators, he said. Mr Soros writes: "Today, there are speculative forces in the markets much bigger and more powerful. And they will be eager to exploit any miscalculations by the British government or British voters." "Brexit would make some people very rich - but most voters considerably poorer," Mr Soros said [...].

 

[Roger Hicks]

George Soros, the single most successful hedge-manager of this century, aka ''the man who broke the Bank of England'' is predicting a sharp fall of the British Pound if and when Brexit happens: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36582026


[...] "Sixty years of investing experience had taught him that the only winners would be financial speculators, he said. Mr Soros writes: "Today, there are speculative forces in the markets much bigger and more powerful. And they will be eager to exploit any miscalculations by the British government or British voters." "Brexit would make some people very rich - but most voters considerably poorer," Mr Soros said [...].

Dear Peter,

True, but a fundamental tenet of most Brexiteers is that experts don't know anything.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Roger Hicks]

by the way, the UK will be able to better control immigration its ownself, to put it in redneck vernacular ...

How? Did you understand what I said earlier about Norway and Switzerland?

Cheers,

R.

 

[Beemermark]

Being a US denizen, I enjoy reading this. Something I was taught at a very young age (back on the 2nd or 3rd day of creation) is that the farther money goes from home the less control you have over it. The analogy being that I know what my tax money is being spent for and by whom at the local government level, less at the state level and no clue by the time it gets to Washington D.C.

I think the analogy would apply somewhat to the EU, but I'm not that smart.

What I do want to know, which has to do with the original question, is why is the pound so high compared to all other currencies? This has to really cripple any British exports. Yes, you can buy Leicas cheap from the US but no one in the US is buying from Britain. If everyone in Britain can buy cheaper foreign goods then what are the employment opportunities in Britian? If your not employed then where do you get the money to Leicas from the US?

Just curious.

 

[Roger Hicks]

. . . What I do want to know, which has to do with the original question, is why is the pound so high compared to all other currencies? This has to really cripple any British exports. Yes, you can buy Leicas cheap from the US but no one in the US is buying from Britain. If everyone in Britain can buy cheaper foreign goods then what are the employment opportunities in Britian? If your not employed then where do you get the money to Leicas from the US?

Just curious.

Why is any currency worth anything? In the last 50 years, the pound/dollar exchange rate has ranged between $2.80 and $1.10. It's not really all that high at the moment.

British unemployment is lower than in most of the EU. Take a look at https://www.google.fr/search?q=unem...firefox-b&gfe_rd=cr&ei=kI1pV4XvGq7S8Af0zYHQAw -- you can drag a cursor from January 2007 to April 2015.

Cheers,

R.

 

[paulfish4570]

britian's unemployment rate will be even lower when it closes its borders ... 🙂

 

[Roger Hicks]

britian's unemployment rate will be even lower when it closes its borders ... 🙂

Really? How, and why?

Besides, as I've said, it can't really close its borders.

Incidentally, I don't live in Provence, but in west central France.

Cheers,

R.

 

[valdas]

britian's unemployment rate will be even lower when it closes its borders ... 🙂

Sure it will...for a while... Many Eastern Europeans who are now cheap labor for jobs locals won't take will leave... So there will be more jobs... But the problem is that those jobs were always low paid immigrant jobs. So that will not help NF cause, I am afraid. This business will simply close or will have to rely on illegal immigrants, like it was before Polish plumbers took over..

 

[Calzone]

Being a US denizen, I enjoy reading this. Something I was taught at a very young age (back on the 2nd or 3rd day of creation) is that the farther money goes from home the less control you have over it. The analogy being that I know what my tax money is being spent for and by whom at the local government level, less at the state level and no clue by the time it gets to Washington D.C.

I think the analogy would apply somewhat to the EU, but I'm not that smart.

What I do want to know, which has to do with the original question, is why is the pound so high compared to all other currencies? This has to really cripple any British exports. Yes, you can buy Leicas cheap from the US but no one in the US is buying from Britain. If everyone in Britain can buy cheaper foreign goods then what are the employment opportunities in Britian? If your not employed then where do you get the money to Leicas from the US?

Just curious.

B,

I think you asked a good question.

I am a New Yorker. NYC is a lot like London in that finance, banking and insurance are much of the economy; we don't export very much as far as goods; and perhaps we only really export housing bubbles and other financial problems. Another big part of NYC's economy is tourism.

In New York State we don't really manufacture or have an export economy like Japan or Germany of finished goods, nor are we a supplier of raw materials like say Canada or Brazil. People come to New York for healthcare, for culture, and for the arts.

Although England as a country exports automobiles, has an aerospace industry, and an oil and chemical industry, here in New York we have none of that and we are considered to have a thriving economy.

Just understand that the stock market (both London and New York have big stock markets) is a zero sum game where over time statistically 90% are loosers and only 10% are winners. Basically it is just a place to concentrate wealth. BTW London is more expensive than NYC.

Also know that many wealthy people who are not Americans are laundering money and setting up what effectively are "bunkers" for themselves for when their home countries eventually fail. Shell companies are set up and LLC's so that properties and assets can not be confiscated by foreign governments. Of course these acquisition of hard assets and real estate mean a lot of currency conversion and currently some of the more stable currencies are the U.S. Dollar and the British Pound.

In effect the U.S. Dollar and British Pound are bid up due to demand over other currencies that are less stable. The British Pound is strong because other currencies are relitively weak like the Japanese Yen, the Euro, the Canadian Dollar (Loonie)... The Yen is sliding due to negative interest rate policy used to fight deflation; the Euro also is using negative interest rate policy and has to support week members, low oil prices and that gigantic fire has the Canadian economy in a recession.

Part of the valuation has to do with interest rates (zero interest rates or even negative interest rates), and the perceived state of a country's economy, but that is all in relation to other countries and their respective currencies. It is all relative. The U.S. economy is not that strong, but it is doing better than the rest of the world. The British economy is looked upon in the same way as ours: not strong, but stronger than others.

Cal

 

[Wulfthari]

Well, this 'knuckle-dragger' went to primary school in Brussels, and was consequently able to converse with collaborators at the likes of Matra (as it then was) in their own language, as well has having good personal and professional engineering relations with others in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and elsewhere.
This, by the way, was in projects of the type that were in place both before, and after, the UK joined the EEC, and could continue after the UK leaves the EU. For many international things, membership, or not, of the EU, is immaterial.

Can you explain then why Dr. Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, sent THREE mails to ALL the JLR employees inviting them to vote for remain saying that 30% of the suppliers are in the EU and he fears the company will be hurt by custom duties?

Is he an idiot?

britian's unemployment rate will be even lower when it closes its borders ... 🙂

When the UK borders were closed (70s and 80s) unemployment was rampant, the UK economical success started in the late 90s.

 

[Borge H]

...

As for the Islamist stuff, where are you getting your information from? Have you ever been to Europe? Do you know any Muslims?

...

It is a fact that the large influx of people from Middle-East and North Africa change our countries in Europe. In the second largest city in Sweden (Malmö) the most common name given to newborn children is Muhammed. That is not an old swedish name...

The muslim part of this city demands separate hours for men and women in bathhouses. The jewish part of the population say that they are often harassed in the streets, some of them leave the city. In the "no-go" areas where many immigrants live the police, fire fighters or the ambulances very often meet stone throwing young immigrant males. The ambulance now always waits for police back-up before entering these areas.

The massive influx of immigrants, many of them illiterate, create many problems. In average a Somali man goes on welfare for 7 years before even finding some job....🙁