“Given the curious nature of the map showing which areas voted in and out, the UK has an opportunity to emulate Switzerland’s intensive devolution and diversity and Norway’s independence. An insightful analyst pointed out that Switzerland is in Europe, although not the EU. It has free trade with the EU, but also China, Japan and other countries. It exports five times more of its exports to the EU than Britain. It does not endure a deluge of EU rules, from the mandatory banana shapes to toilet paper sheets. It has Europe’s highest after-tax wages and lowest enduring unemployment. According to objective criteria, Switzerland and Norway are among the world’s richest, happiest, most innovative and peaceful nations”.
Britain should not waste the Brexit crisis: Leon Louw in BDlive today published by Business Day.
Further excerpts
“IN OR out there is never a doubt, sang Sandie Shaw in her 1967 blockbuster hit Puppet on a String. So it is with Brexit. No one seems to doubt the certainty with which they regard Britain’s “shock” decision to be out of the EU as good or bad. Virtually every “expert” warned against exit and predicted dire consequences. The jest that the future is not what it used to be and that it is dangerous to make predictions, especially about the future, has seldom been more apposite”.
. . . . .
“It was reported that the “UK’s biggest banks have … a secret list of demands for politicians”, which includes “a bonfire of red tape, open borders and a publicity drive to bolster the UK’s status as a financial centre outside the EU.” If their plan, and a little more, is implemented, London’s status as the world’s financial centre can be restored, and the UK can break from the economic stagnation that plagues advanced countries. It can open its economic borders to the world instead of just the EU”.