4 ms·

I hope the UK follows through with its 'Singapore-on-Thames' plan, which requiring losing regulatory harmonization with the EU: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S

I hope the UK follows through with its 'Singapore-on-Thames' plan, which requiring losing regulatory harmonization with the EU: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore-on-Thames https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore-on-Thames

lanevorockz 6y ago
Let’s be honest, it’s not up to the UK alone. The EU still has strong world influence and they will try to stop it at any cost.
- viraptor 6y ago
  Why do you think so? What do you think EU has to gain from UK doing badly? And I mean in practice, economically - we're way past the time "told you so" is relevant.
  - auganov 6y ago
    If the EU cannot show there's a big exit cost it may not last too much longer. Economic growth is so lackluster all across the EU, including new entrants, that few people (who looked at the data) genuinely believe EU membership is a GDP booster. EU's next best bet is to play into the fear that exiting will bring about economic ruin. This works particularly well on newer members who may not be on good terms with core EU countries. Their fear wouldn't necessarily be missing out on benefits but getting slapped with sanctions.
    - viraptor 6y ago
      We already saw the big exit cost. Tariffs will apply where trade deals are missing. I'm not sure who you expect to use sanctions - EU won't slap anyone with sanctions just because they left EU. Have a look at https://sanctionsmap.eu/ https://sanctionsmap.eu/ for situations where sanctions have been applied.
      - auganov 6y ago
        There's nothing interesting going on with UK's economy. Seems pretty indistinct from the rest of Europe. No, I do not think EU would really do major sanctions, but I do think it's something some fear and I do think it's a fear the EU plays into. Many in ex-Soviet and ex-Soviet-satellite countries see EU membership as the guarantor of access and lasting ties with not just Western Europe but the "free world" in general (as in not being part of the Russia/China/Iran/+ club). Even in the UK you see some semblance of this sentiment despite being rather ridiculous. In countries that have a fairly recent history of being excluded for no good reason it seems all the more compelling.
pydry 6y ago
I was pretty disappointed after living three years in Singapore and witnessing the uglier underbelly of the country that the UK decided that's what it wanted to become almost as soon as I got home. Moreover, they don't want to copy any of the successes - e.g. their public housing system or strict "you WILL go to prison if you overcharge" price controls on medical care. They just want the tax haven, deregulation, an under the thumb easily exploited workforce working themselves half to death and handouts to their friends.
- dageshi 6y ago
  Healthcare is paid via taxes, so how does one overcharge it?
  - pydry 6y ago
    Healthcare is largely paid via a forced savings account, not via taxes. It's the same account you'd use to buy property, for instance. The price controls also apply to medical tourism. In theory this kind of thing should show up on those economic freedom indices but they're so enamored of Singapore's lavish aid to foreign investors that they tend to look past this stuff (especially since it mostly just applies to locals).
- CryptoPunk 6y ago
  On the balance, Singapore is much more free in the economical sphere than the UK, so if the UK did copy ALL of its policies, it would become more much economically competitive and see more rapid economic development. As for exploitation of workers, Singapore has seen massively more wage growth than the UK over the last 50 years, so I don't equate a free labor market with exploitation. I will add that there are important ways in which the UK is more conducive in the long run to a free market and free society than Singapore, but at least in the short run, Singapore's simulation of a free market economy has been offering more practical liberty and working better at raising living standards. Ideally, the UK would maintain its pluralistic and democratic core, while adopting Singapore's economic policies.
  - 6y ago
mhh__ 6y ago
So we throw away our relationship with a trading bloc that is 0km away to do things we already do but spun to make Brexit look palatable before the people who voted for it are already dead?

lanevorockz 6y ago

Let’s be honest, it’s not up to the UK alone. The EU still has strong world influence and they will try to stop it at any cost.

viraptor 6y ago
Why do you think so? What do you think EU has to gain from UK doing badly? And I mean in practice, economically - we're way past the time "told you so" is relevant.
- auganov 6y ago
  If the EU cannot show there's a big exit cost it may not last too much longer. Economic growth is so lackluster all across the EU, including new entrants, that few people (who looked at the data) genuinely believe EU membership is a GDP booster. EU's next best bet is to play into the fear that exiting will bring about economic ruin. This works particularly well on newer members who may not be on good terms with core EU countries. Their fear wouldn't necessarily be missing out on benefits but getting slapped with sanctions.
  - viraptor 6y ago
    We already saw the big exit cost. Tariffs will apply where trade deals are missing. I'm not sure who you expect to use sanctions - EU won't slap anyone with sanctions just because they left EU. Have a look at https://sanctionsmap.eu/ https://sanctionsmap.eu/ for situations where sanctions have been applied.
    - auganov 6y ago
      There's nothing interesting going on with UK's economy. Seems pretty indistinct from the rest of Europe. No, I do not think EU would really do major sanctions, but I do think it's something some fear and I do think it's a fear the EU plays into. Many in ex-Soviet and ex-Soviet-satellite countries see EU membership as the guarantor of access and lasting ties with not just Western Europe but the "free world" in general (as in not being part of the Russia/China/Iran/+ club). Even in the UK you see some semblance of this sentiment despite being rather ridiculous. In countries that have a fairly recent history of being excluded for no good reason it seems all the more compelling.

pydry 6y ago

I was pretty disappointed after living three years in Singapore and witnessing the uglier underbelly of the country that the UK decided that's what it wanted to become almost as soon as I got home. Moreover, they don't want to copy any of the successes - e.g. their public housing system or strict "you WILL go to prison if you overcharge" price controls on medical care. They just want the tax haven, deregulation, an under the thumb easily exploited workforce working themselves half to death and handouts to their friends.

dageshi 6y ago
Healthcare is paid via taxes, so how does one overcharge it?
- pydry 6y ago
  Healthcare is largely paid via a forced savings account, not via taxes. It's the same account you'd use to buy property, for instance. The price controls also apply to medical tourism. In theory this kind of thing should show up on those economic freedom indices but they're so enamored of Singapore's lavish aid to foreign investors that they tend to look past this stuff (especially since it mostly just applies to locals).
CryptoPunk 6y ago
On the balance, Singapore is much more free in the economical sphere than the UK, so if the UK did copy ALL of its policies, it would become more much economically competitive and see more rapid economic development. As for exploitation of workers, Singapore has seen massively more wage growth than the UK over the last 50 years, so I don't equate a free labor market with exploitation. I will add that there are important ways in which the UK is more conducive in the long run to a free market and free society than Singapore, but at least in the short run, Singapore's simulation of a free market economy has been offering more practical liberty and working better at raising living standards. Ideally, the UK would maintain its pluralistic and democratic core, while adopting Singapore's economic policies.
- 6y ago

mhh__ 6y ago

So we throw away our relationship with a trading bloc that is 0km away to do things we already do but spun to make Brexit look palatable before the people who voted for it are already dead?