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EUpocalypse!

UnkaWillbur Jun 24, 2016

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brexit Last night, in a only marginally surprising result, the forces of rural, anti-immigrant racists, and urban anti-Neoliberal leftists combined to show the European Union the door. As usual, Yves Smith breaks it down for us, both the reasoning…

But Brexit represents something much bigger than an economic or political crisis… Brexit is a crippling blow to the neoliberal order of unfettered trade and capital flows, and citizens being reduced to being consumers who have to fend for themselves in markets, and worse, increasingly isolated worker who are at the mercy of capitalists who are ever more determined to reduce labor costs and hoard the benefits of productivity gains for themselves.

And the results…

No matter how this plays out, the UK and EU will have to blaze a difficult path. And this rupture is taking place when advanced economies almost without exception have singularly weak leaders. We are in for a rough ride, and the portents suggest it will be much rougher than it needs to be.

We’re certainly going to feel the aftershocks, here in the U.S. and, with our own economy on a shaky footing the effects could be writ large on America’s 1%.

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Your Weekend of Weekends.

UnkaWillbur - May 26, 2017

Here' some links to nosh on, to start of your weekend. I hope everyone's weekend is great; me, myself, I'm planning on jumping out of a perfectly…

Unkawillbur

#1: Short answer: No, it’s not binding, the British parliament is sovereign. Longer answer at The Guardian.

#2: IMO, not really. Now, that’s not to say there aren’t some long-term investments that people might be rightly working on getting out of now, just in case Brexit is implemented, which I think is likely.

#3: Beyond my ken, and I couldn’t find anything regarding it. I know that it’s not a very Neoliberal idea to require foreign entities to abide by national laws (I mean, TPP and all), and certainly the US’s Neliberals have gone a long, long way to ridding the US of any such statues, but the EU? I haven’t a clue.

#4: Well, it might be an issue, but it’s pretty far in the weeds of internal British tax/finance and I wouldn’t want to answer for fear of muddying the issue further, for you. 😀
- dayanmao
  
  I like this place already. Good job!
dayanmao

I too haven’t really watched the Brexit vote, in fact, it was barely on my periphery until the death/murder of Jo Cox. For a total layman (who’s knowledge of finance amounts to his ability to count change) I find it amazing that most news outlets paint the the pro Brexit crowd as being a bunch of know-nothing racists, and was pleased to see the phrase ” urban anti-Neoliberal leftists” used in the article.

If anyone wants to understand the power, and the misuse of power by the EU, one only has to look at the situation in Greece.

The two fronts (the isolationists and Leftists) voted together to reinstate British autonomy. We’ve seen the vast destruction caused by unfettered, rapacious, capitalism and I think the vote went in the right direction. Certainly, if such a vote were to take place here (ending NAFTA, CAFTA, etc…) I’d be all for it.

Interesting links.

2008 All Over Again
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/2008_all_over_again_20160624

“Great Britain’s decision to leave the European Union has wiped out many
bankers and global speculators. They will turn, as they did in 2008, to
governments to rescue them from default. Most governments, including
ours, will probably comply.”

US imperialism the BREXIT culprit
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2016/06/us-imperialism-the-brexit-culprit.html

“Michael Hudson argues that military interventions in the Middle East
created refugee streams to Europe that were in turn used by the
anti-immigrant right to stir up xenophobia”
17

Why the British said no to Europe

John Pilger argues that the referendum result represents a deeper, more dynamic anger than the reasons rehearsed by politicians and the media and offers a glimpse of hope.

http://johnpilger.com/articles/why-the-british-said-no-to-europe
17

Brexit Referendum Is Non-Binding. UK Parliament Not Voters has Final Say

All the fuss and bother about Brexit largely ignores its non-binding status – parliament, not voters deciding
if Britain stays or leaves the EU, the latter extremely unlikely.

http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2016/06/27/brexit-referendum-is-non-binding-uk-parliament-not-voters-has-final-say.html
17

Charts: Half of the UK’s foreign investment comes from the countries it just snubbed

Nearly half of all foreign investment in the United Kingdom has come from other members of European Union. Many of those investments were made with the assumption that the UK has easy access to the rest of the European market. So long as the UK was a member of the EU, this was guaranteed. But with a vote to leave now in the rear-view mirror, the future of those investments—and others from outside Europe—may be in doubt.

http://qz.com/718745/charts-half-of-the-uks-foreign-investment-comes-from-the-countries-it-just-snubbed/
17

London’s financial industry relies on foreigners, which is a big problem after Brexit

Ironically, Brexit might inadvertently achieve the aims of its staunchest supporters, though perhaps not in the way they intended. Immigration to Britain has surged because the economy was among the strongest in Europe, with low unemployment and dynamic, world-beating industry clusters. With the odds of recession rising, and markets in turmoil, it’s fair to say some of those advantages will wane, and with them, immigration.

http://qz.com/718683/londons-financial-industry-relies-on-foreigners-which-is-a-big-problem-after-brexit/
17

Making Sense of Brexit
By Philip Bobbitt

Of the millions of words written in the past few days about Brexit — the British vote to leave the European Union — the word “State” has seldom appeared. Very few commentators seem to appreciate the one concept that unites the otherwise disparate and paradoxical elements of the Brexit vote. For unless one appreciates that the driving historical force that has brought us to this impasse is the decay of one constitutional order,the industrial nation-state, and the emergence of its successor, the informational market state, the crises brought on by Brexit will simply confound us.

Editor’s Note: The Global Affairs column is curated by Stratfor’s editorial board, a diverse group of thinkers whose expertise inspires rigorous and innovative thought in our analyses. Though their opinions are their own, they inform and sometimes even challenge our beliefs. We welcome that challenge, and we hope our readers do too.

https://www.stratfor.com/weekly/making-sense-brexit?utm_campaign=LL_Content_Digest&utm_content=Bobbitt-Brexit-essay&utm_source=email
17

Rotten to the Core
by Robert Gore

Coercion is inseparable from corruption. When a group coerces with impunity, it steals from, lies to, defrauds, and enslaves the subjugated. The dominant group invariably develops a morally comforting
ideology of its superiority and the subjugated’s inferiority. Such relationships are the essence of corruption.

https://straightlinelogic.com/2016/06/29/rotten-to-the-core-by-robert-gore/