Daily Archives: April 24, 2016

Boris Is Bad Enough – Paul Krugman – The New York Times

April 24, 2016 By in Brexit, Business Administration, David Cameron, Defense Policy, Euro Crisis, Fiscal Policy, French election, George Osborne, Growth, Immigration, People, Politics Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Paul Krugman, Laureate of the Sveriges Riksban...

Paul Krugman, Laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2008 at a press conference at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Nobel prize winning Paul Krugman uses his NYT op-ed blog to pitch into the Brexit debate. He argues that the mayor of London makes the case against Brexit, which would empower people like him.

Source: Boris Is Bad Enough – The New York Times

This is a well reasoned argument and is a recommended must-read. Personally, I think that Boris has blotted his copy-book.

Opinions?

Obama in London: Barack Obama is right: Britain could lead Europe if it wanted to | The Economist

April 24, 2016 By in Boris Johnson, Business Administration, Central banks, David Cameron, Defense Policy, Democracy, Economics, Education, Energy Policy, Fiscal Policy, Foreign Policy, George Osborne, Growth, Healthcare, Immigration, Jeremy Corbyn, People, Politicians, Politics, US Election Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
English: US President Barack Obama and British...

English: US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron trade bottles of beer to settle a bet they made on the U.S. vs. England World Cup Soccer game (which ended in a tie), during a bilateral meeting at the G20 Summit in Toronto, Canada, Saturday, June 26, 2010. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is an outstanding, must-read article from the Economist. The Economist argues that Barack Obama is right and Britain could lead Europe if it wanted to.

Source: Obama in London: Barack Obama is right: Britain could lead Europe if it wanted to | The Economist

This is a balanced and powerful article from the Economist.

Some who do not favor the EU will argue that it was because of France‘s  President De Gaulle the UK never got a chance to be at the center of the EU. On the other hand, many Europeans argue that the UK has chosen to sit on the periphery of the EU. Most Europeans, including political leaders, have been well behaved about the Brexit referendum and have not tried to use it to their own political advantage. However, finance ministers in both Germany and France have warned that in the event of a Brexit win, then the negotiations would be tough – I suggest we think of Greece and multiply by ten – the pressures would be enormous, impacting global financial markets.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I am passionately pro-Europe and in favor of the UK remaining in the EU.

I go along with the Economist and Barack Obama that the UK could be be at the center of Europe, influencing policy and perhaps leading in a collaborative way. But for this to be realized, UK political leaders would need to get off the fence. After the Brexit referendum, with a win in favor of remaining in the EU, I struggle to see David Cameron leading the government much longer and would expect him to step down on a high. This would precipitate a Conservative Party leadership contest, well before the next election. I fear that Boris, the bruiser, has blotted his copy-book, so the race is wide open. The leadership election will, of course, depend on the results of the referendum.

Thoughts?