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Brexit is equally an argument against giving up your national sovereignty to a coalition government. Regardless of opinions, this plays out like a bad marriage

Brexit is equally an argument against giving up your national sovereignty to a coalition government. Regardless of opinions, this plays out like a bad marriage and divorce. Joining the EU requires good will to get in, but there's no amicable way to leave. Why would anyone join now seeing these circumstances? Once you're in, you're in for life. Ride or die. Might as well join a gang.

twblalock 6y ago
Except, the UK was allowed to leave, and the deal they got is probably not that different from the kind of trade deal they would have had with the EU if they had never joined. The UK didn't revert to WTO rules in their trade with the EU. Instead, they got a deal that gave them fewer trade barriers with the EU than most countries have to deal with.
- busterarm 6y ago
  I actually agree with you, but then Brexit isn't such a big deal then, isn't it. The complainers are trying to get all the upside with none of the down.
  - JoeAltmaier 6y ago
    Well that would be called the ideal arrangement. Its business, not a moral issue. Everybody wants what works for them.
- mnd999 6y ago
  It’s a good deal, but only for the EU. They have a goods trade surplus with the UK and they retain their free trade agreement. The UK has a services trade surplus with the EU (particularly financial services) and that is not included in the deal. It’s not all that surprising that the UK lost out in the negotiations - this is what tends to happen when a smaller economy negotiates with a larger one.
  - busterarm 6y ago
    Don't forget that trade imbalance is the root cause for nearly 100% of the world's military conflicts.
    - dxdm 6y ago
      Do you have a source for that? I'd expect it to be more complicated than that.
threeseed 6y ago
> Why would anyone join now seeing these circumstances? Because the world is moving to being dominated by the big 3 trading blocs: US, EU and China. All in an environment where the WTO is diminished and bilateral relationships become the norm. If you are outside one of these blocs increasingly you will become weaker and more irrelevant for trade and services. And far less able to defend your interests.
- busterarm 6y ago
  If the trading bloc doesn't serve your interests either though... Again, when the trading interests of a country are pitted against its other national interests, conflict is most often what comes next.
ben_w 6y ago
Leaving the EU, Brexit was ~4 years of political negotiation that resulted in not being in the EU. Leaving the USA, the Civil War cost many lives and resulted in still being in the USA. That didn’t stop Puerto Rico wanting to join the USA.

twblalock 6y ago

Except, the UK was allowed to leave, and the deal they got is probably not that different from the kind of trade deal they would have had with the EU if they had never joined. The UK didn't revert to WTO rules in their trade with the EU. Instead, they got a deal that gave them fewer trade barriers with the EU than most countries have to deal with.

busterarm 6y ago
I actually agree with you, but then Brexit isn't such a big deal then, isn't it. The complainers are trying to get all the upside with none of the down.
- JoeAltmaier 6y ago
  Well that would be called the ideal arrangement. Its business, not a moral issue. Everybody wants what works for them.
mnd999 6y ago
It’s a good deal, but only for the EU. They have a goods trade surplus with the UK and they retain their free trade agreement. The UK has a services trade surplus with the EU (particularly financial services) and that is not included in the deal. It’s not all that surprising that the UK lost out in the negotiations - this is what tends to happen when a smaller economy negotiates with a larger one.
- busterarm 6y ago
  Don't forget that trade imbalance is the root cause for nearly 100% of the world's military conflicts.
  - dxdm 6y ago
    Do you have a source for that? I'd expect it to be more complicated than that.

threeseed 6y ago

> Why would anyone join now seeing these circumstances? Because the world is moving to being dominated by the big 3 trading blocs: US, EU and China. All in an environment where the WTO is diminished and bilateral relationships become the norm. If you are outside one of these blocs increasingly you will become weaker and more irrelevant for trade and services. And far less able to defend your interests.

busterarm 6y ago
If the trading bloc doesn't serve your interests either though... Again, when the trading interests of a country are pitted against its other national interests, conflict is most often what comes next.

ben_w 6y ago

Leaving the EU, Brexit was ~4 years of political negotiation that resulted in not being in the EU. Leaving the USA, the Civil War cost many lives and resulted in still being in the USA. That didn’t stop Puerto Rico wanting to join the USA.