- (december 2011)
The emargination of Britain.
The world is looking at the continent, where Greece is going bust, Spain
is experiencing world record unemployment and Italy is forced to change
government, but the real loser might be up north.
After the dissolution of the empire,
Britain's power relied on three strategic pillars (and Britain was the only
country in the world that could boast this combination): 1. Britain still
exerted control on its former colonies via the Commonwealth, having more
than 50% of its GDP; 2. Britain had a "special relationship" with the USA that
peaked during the Blair-Bush years; and 3. Britain was a powerful and rich
member of the European Union.
In december 2011, in the middle of the worst
European crisis since World War II, Britain has become irrelevant:
1. People hardly remember the Commonwealth, which has lost any practical
meaning, and whose members enjoy much better economic growth than Britain,
one of which (India) might soon surpass Britain itself;
2. The special relationship between the USA and Britain has disintegrated
following the vast withdrawl of the USA from combat and following Britain's
deep cuts into the defense budget; 3. Britain is not a member of the euro,
has always vilified the euro and makes fun of Europe's finances, hence now
it has no saying on the future of the euro.
In a sense, it is a blessing that Britain never got better integrated with the
European Union. If it were, people would notice that Britain's
gross government national debt is projected to reach 100% of GDP by 2015,
thus challenging Italy's as the worst spender among major European countries.
The unemployment rate stands at 8.3%, similar to Italy's. By the end of 2011
GDP was either stagnating or decreasing. If Britain were part of the euro,
chances are that it would be listed as a sick man alongside Italy and Spain.
And chances are that soon Britain will experience the kind of financial panic
that has toppled governments in Greece and Italy. The difference, however, is
that in Britain's case nobody will care: Britain has become irrelevant.
If Greece falls, 16 euro siblings are affected; and, in fact, they came to
the rescue. If Britain falls, it's Britain's problem only. The rest of the
world will have little interest and little sympathy for Britain the
isolationist.
TM, ®, Copyright © 2011 Piero Scaruffi All rights reserved.
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