4 ms·

Ask HN: What could UK do with a no-deal exit to save its economy?

I have been wondering amidst these short sighted news stories - What could UK actually do to save itself in the event of a no-deal exit? As in, what kind of economic levers do they have to stay afloat or even try to get ahead of the pack.. Can they just reduce tariffs and taxes so much that all of UK becomes an easy tax haven? Or reduce taxes, tariffs and incentivise businesses so much to compensate for the loss of access to EU and steer them to look toward everyone else? What could their move be?

nodex-alex 8y ago
Are you insane? What evidence do you have to support the economy tanking upon No deal? Here are the facts: Greed will always conquer everything, that is, the large corps, banks etc are greedy and if they want somehting to happen then ultimately it will, that is - if they want to trade they will make it happen, they're not going to let a nation rich economy such as the UK with all it's spending power not buy their goods and on the flip side those same corporations who have their fingers in all the UK pies will make sure they can sell their goods and services. There is zero evidence except for speculation that the economy will tank, what's more likely is that countries like Germany and France that export (more than they import) masses to the UK will feel the pinch much harder and put pressure on the negotiators to sort it out.
foldr 8y ago
>Greed will always conquer everything, that is, the large corps, banks etc are greedy and if they want somehting to happen then ultimately it will I hear this all the time from Brexiters who are apparently unaware that Brexit itself refutes this thesis.
richliss 8y ago
Here's a sample of what the UK could do to help (but not definitely) save itself in the event of a no-deal brexit: 1. Set corporation tax lower than any EU country. 2. Create generous startup investment vehicles that are open to EU startups who transfer their HQ to the UK. 3. Sign small limited set trade deals with every country they currently don't have deals with because of the EU - think pareto and don't worry about the small stuff right now. 4. Deregulate the finance industry even more with the caveat that they help with this transitory period. 5. Borrow money and invest massively in infrastructure ONLY creating jobs 6. Subsidise large internationally competitive UK companies in return for staying/playing ball. 7. Speak to the US about dissolving NATO and replacing it with something else that's cheaper and more focused now that the EU has talked about building their own army. 8. Aggressively push commonwealth trade. 9. Throw out lots of laws and regulations around corruption, bribery etc. to increase trade with countries with lots of money and few morals. 10. Deregulate "greenfield" housebuilding investment - the UK has a massive shortage of housing. There's a lot of jobs there and a lot of foreign investors who want to take their dirty money out of their own country. 11. Continue fracking and other dirty industries that make money but make life worse. 12. Change the law around retirement benefits being payable outside of the UK - would be unpopular but all those pensioners in Spain, France, Greece, Portugal etc. would have to move and spend their money in the UK or in Gibraltar. 13. Cut workers rights to make it a better place to hire workers for companies who move to the UK for say a 10-year transition period. No doubt a lot of these wouldn't be straightforward and without a majority government I fully expect a lot of people to say "not possible" but the general idea is that almost all options (good and bad) are on the table because of a no-deal brexit.
- reacharavindh 8y ago
  1,2,3,5,6&8 seems like "good" things to do in the spirit of being competitive as a country. But, the rest are mean spirited and have a lot of potential to backfire in direct and indirect ways. There sure are cronies and crooks everywhere in the world rooting for such mean spirited opportunities. Time will tell what the U.K. Will stand for I suppose.

nodex-alex 8y ago

Are you insane? What evidence do you have to support the economy tanking upon No deal? Here are the facts: Greed will always conquer everything, that is, the large corps, banks etc are greedy and if they want somehting to happen then ultimately it will, that is - if they want to trade they will make it happen, they're not going to let a nation rich economy such as the UK with all it's spending power not buy their goods and on the flip side those same corporations who have their fingers in all the UK pies will make sure they can sell their goods and services. There is zero evidence except for speculation that the economy will tank, what's more likely is that countries like Germany and France that export (more than they import) masses to the UK will feel the pinch much harder and put pressure on the negotiators to sort it out.

foldr 8y ago

>Greed will always conquer everything, that is, the large corps, banks etc are greedy and if they want somehting to happen then ultimately it will I hear this all the time from Brexiters who are apparently unaware that Brexit itself refutes this thesis.

richliss 8y ago

Here's a sample of what the UK could do to help (but not definitely) save itself in the event of a no-deal brexit: 1. Set corporation tax lower than any EU country. 2. Create generous startup investment vehicles that are open to EU startups who transfer their HQ to the UK. 3. Sign small limited set trade deals with every country they currently don't have deals with because of the EU - think pareto and don't worry about the small stuff right now. 4. Deregulate the finance industry even more with the caveat that they help with this transitory period. 5. Borrow money and invest massively in infrastructure ONLY creating jobs 6. Subsidise large internationally competitive UK companies in return for staying/playing ball. 7. Speak to the US about dissolving NATO and replacing it with something else that's cheaper and more focused now that the EU has talked about building their own army. 8. Aggressively push commonwealth trade. 9. Throw out lots of laws and regulations around corruption, bribery etc. to increase trade with countries with lots of money and few morals. 10. Deregulate "greenfield" housebuilding investment - the UK has a massive shortage of housing. There's a lot of jobs there and a lot of foreign investors who want to take their dirty money out of their own country. 11. Continue fracking and other dirty industries that make money but make life worse. 12. Change the law around retirement benefits being payable outside of the UK - would be unpopular but all those pensioners in Spain, France, Greece, Portugal etc. would have to move and spend their money in the UK or in Gibraltar. 13. Cut workers rights to make it a better place to hire workers for companies who move to the UK for say a 10-year transition period. No doubt a lot of these wouldn't be straightforward and without a majority government I fully expect a lot of people to say "not possible" but the general idea is that almost all options (good and bad) are on the table because of a no-deal brexit.

reacharavindh 8y ago
1,2,3,5,6&8 seems like "good" things to do in the spirit of being competitive as a country. But, the rest are mean spirited and have a lot of potential to backfire in direct and indirect ways. There sure are cronies and crooks everywhere in the world rooting for such mean spirited opportunities. Time will tell what the U.K. Will stand for I suppose.