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What is it with the British Isles and their "job specialization" in arbitraging / milking the economy of continental Europe? From the financial rent seeking of

What is it with the British Isles and their "job specialization" in arbitraging / milking the economy of continental Europe? From the financial rent seeking of London, to the tax and privacy regulatory arbitrages of Ireland the same pattern of exploiting arbitrarily erected information walls to evade scrutiny and accountability. Of course this is a tango that takes three to dance...

s_dev 5y ago
>What is it with the British Isles It's not a British Isle -- it's an Irish one. Great Britain refers to the main island composing England, Scotland and Wales. The Irish isle of Ireland is composed of the two Irelands (Ireland and Northern Ireland). The 'British Isles' term is disputed by many Irish people. The reason it's not a geographic term is because it's not a river -- Britain is a geopolitical entity not a purely geographic one. The fact the Ireland was head of the GDPR for the EU was merely an odd coincidence and has been rectified. You won't many upset Irish people over this.
- tremon 5y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles > The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Hebrides and over six thousand smaller islands. [They] include two sovereign states, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
  - anonymousDan 5y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles_naming_dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles_naming_dispute No-one in Ireland would refer to them as the British Isles.
    - dangerface 5y ago
      I do
      - overscore 5y ago
        No-one is obviously hyperbole, but it's extremely uncommon in Ireland. It's a shortcut to start an argument, for sure.
        dangerface 5y ago
        People in Northern Ireland like me consider themselves British and we are a third of the population, while obviously not the majority I wouldn't call it uncommon.
        overscore 5y ago
        I also believe anyone in Northern Ireland who consider themselves to be British are British. However, does that imply usage of the term "British Isles"? Simply Britain and Ireland (or Ireland and Britain) is far more commonly used if referring to the archipelago.
  - s_dev 5y ago
    According to your own source the term is disputed -- a substantial amount of the article is dedicated to the dispute.
  - overscore 5y ago
    As your own link states, it's a controversial term and its use is objected to by the Irish Government: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles_naming_dispute https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles_naming_dispute The talk pages and edit history for the Wikipedia article on the British Isles term are interesting. You can see the arguments and edit wars. Much like the insistence on naming the country page for Ireland the "Republic of Ireland' (which is our football team and country descriptor, not the name of the country), I think Wikipedia are on the wrong side of history here, but some editors até vociferous in their objections to change.
mpweiher 5y ago
With Ireland, this was intentional by the EU to bring the then new member closer to the rest, economically. Now that Ireland has passed most of the rest of the EU in GDP per capita, it's time to pull that back, and that's starting to happen. The UK...well... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
rusk 5y ago
You think this stuff doesn’t go on in Paris or Frankfurt? Luxembourg is a whole city state dedicated to this kind of thing. They’re just better at keeping under the radar and probably have better PR.
- nivenkos 5y ago
  The former PM of Luxembourg was also the head of the EU. They're running the dog and pony show.
  - rusk 5y ago
    It goes on everywhere. New York is the same. Ireland is an outlier in the fact that her ascendancy coincided with the US tech boom and language was an advantage. You have a very awkward situation developing and the current political leaders don't have the imagination to get out of it. The UK is an outlier because though they had a far more robust and diverse economy they threw everything into finance and have just burned any bridges back.
    - Silhouette 5y ago
      The UK is an outlier because though they had a far more robust and diverse economy they threw everything into finance and have just burned any bridges back. That's not really true. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06193/ https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06... The financial services sector only contributes around 7% of total UK economic output.
      - rusk 5y ago
        Yeah that’s what they want you to think. Just like how Ireland has the highest GDP in Europe or some nonsense
brnt 5y ago
London is an exercise in marketing, to see how far peoples suspension of disbelief can be stretched whilst being a net drain on a country it isn't even strictly part of, and a drain the world as a whole. It is amazing to see how Brits outside of (hell, even in) London live, the British countryside has some of the poorest areas in western Europe. Evidence marketing is effective!
- maccard 5y ago
  > the British countryside has some of the poorest areas in western Europe All rich countries have impovrished areas that have been left behind. > It is amazing to see how Brits outside of (hell, even in) London live, The same can be said for California, New York, Florida, Dublin, Paris, Barcelona, etc.
  - seniorivn 5y ago
    Swiss don't
    - bojan 5y ago
      In The Netherlands they are few and far between.
  - brnt 5y ago
    > All rich countries have impovrished areas that have been left behind. Check which countries make the top 10 lists in QoL. You'll find their ghetto's are as nice to live as some of Britain's good neighbourhoods!
- HPsquared 5y ago
  >> net drain on a country it isn't even strictly part of Not quite: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_fiscal_balance https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_fiscal_balance
  - estaseuropano 5y ago
nob0dyasked 5y ago
It would be much easier if France, Germany, Italy, Spain made an effort to be a bit more competitive, rather than bullying economies that are already reshaping to compete globally.
blibble 5y ago
let me introduce you to the existence of the Netherlands and Luxembourg
HPsquared 5y ago
It's a bit like the relationship between China and Hong Kong (until recently, at least)

s_dev 5y ago

>What is it with the British Isles It's not a British Isle -- it's an Irish one. Great Britain refers to the main island composing England, Scotland and Wales. The Irish isle of Ireland is composed of the two Irelands (Ireland and Northern Ireland). The 'British Isles' term is disputed by many Irish people. The reason it's not a geographic term is because it's not a river -- Britain is a geopolitical entity not a purely geographic one. The fact the Ireland was head of the GDPR for the EU was merely an odd coincidence and has been rectified. You won't many upset Irish people over this.

tremon 5y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles > The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Hebrides and over six thousand smaller islands. [They] include two sovereign states, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- anonymousDan 5y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles_naming_dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles_naming_dispute No-one in Ireland would refer to them as the British Isles.
  - dangerface 5y ago
    I do
    - overscore 5y ago
      No-one is obviously hyperbole, but it's extremely uncommon in Ireland. It's a shortcut to start an argument, for sure.
      - dangerface 5y ago
        People in Northern Ireland like me consider themselves British and we are a third of the population, while obviously not the majority I wouldn't call it uncommon.
        overscore 5y ago
        I also believe anyone in Northern Ireland who consider themselves to be British are British. However, does that imply usage of the term "British Isles"? Simply Britain and Ireland (or Ireland and Britain) is far more commonly used if referring to the archipelago.
- s_dev 5y ago
  According to your own source the term is disputed -- a substantial amount of the article is dedicated to the dispute.
- overscore 5y ago
  As your own link states, it's a controversial term and its use is objected to by the Irish Government: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles_naming_dispute https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles_naming_dispute The talk pages and edit history for the Wikipedia article on the British Isles term are interesting. You can see the arguments and edit wars. Much like the insistence on naming the country page for Ireland the "Republic of Ireland' (which is our football team and country descriptor, not the name of the country), I think Wikipedia are on the wrong side of history here, but some editors até vociferous in their objections to change.

mpweiher 5y ago

With Ireland, this was intentional by the EU to bring the then new member closer to the rest, economically. Now that Ireland has passed most of the rest of the EU in GDP per capita, it's time to pull that back, and that's starting to happen. The UK...well... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

rusk 5y ago

You think this stuff doesn’t go on in Paris or Frankfurt? Luxembourg is a whole city state dedicated to this kind of thing. They’re just better at keeping under the radar and probably have better PR.

nivenkos 5y ago
The former PM of Luxembourg was also the head of the EU. They're running the dog and pony show.
- rusk 5y ago
  It goes on everywhere. New York is the same. Ireland is an outlier in the fact that her ascendancy coincided with the US tech boom and language was an advantage. You have a very awkward situation developing and the current political leaders don't have the imagination to get out of it. The UK is an outlier because though they had a far more robust and diverse economy they threw everything into finance and have just burned any bridges back.
  - Silhouette 5y ago
    The UK is an outlier because though they had a far more robust and diverse economy they threw everything into finance and have just burned any bridges back. That's not really true. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06193/ https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06... The financial services sector only contributes around 7% of total UK economic output.
    - rusk 5y ago
      Yeah that’s what they want you to think. Just like how Ireland has the highest GDP in Europe or some nonsense

brnt 5y ago

London is an exercise in marketing, to see how far peoples suspension of disbelief can be stretched whilst being a net drain on a country it isn't even strictly part of, and a drain the world as a whole. It is amazing to see how Brits outside of (hell, even in) London live, the British countryside has some of the poorest areas in western Europe. Evidence marketing is effective!

maccard 5y ago
> the British countryside has some of the poorest areas in western Europe All rich countries have impovrished areas that have been left behind. > It is amazing to see how Brits outside of (hell, even in) London live, The same can be said for California, New York, Florida, Dublin, Paris, Barcelona, etc.
- seniorivn 5y ago
  Swiss don't
  - bojan 5y ago
    In The Netherlands they are few and far between.
- brnt 5y ago
  > All rich countries have impovrished areas that have been left behind. Check which countries make the top 10 lists in QoL. You'll find their ghetto's are as nice to live as some of Britain's good neighbourhoods!
HPsquared 5y ago
>> net drain on a country it isn't even strictly part of Not quite: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_fiscal_balance https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_fiscal_balance
- estaseuropano 5y ago

nob0dyasked 5y ago

It would be much easier if France, Germany, Italy, Spain made an effort to be a bit more competitive, rather than bullying economies that are already reshaping to compete globally.

blibble 5y ago

let me introduce you to the existence of the Netherlands and Luxembourg

HPsquared 5y ago

It's a bit like the relationship between China and Hong Kong (until recently, at least)