Economics: Brexit Is Just Another Divorce - So What?

(Drivebycuriosity) - Divorces are often messy, but often necessary. Not all marriages are made in heaven, often the partners develop into two different directions. The marriage between Great Britain and the European Union doesn`t function anymore. The European union became bureaucratic & Byzantine. The European Commission (Brussels) has been gaining more and more power over the years - developing the EU into something like the defunct Soviet Union, a bundle of states ruled by a central government. The European Parliament and the EU Commission, especially Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, treat the EU increasingly like a kingdom. Even after the Brexit decision they want to expand the power of the EU and demand more integration, meaning more power for Brussels ( spiegel.de).

According to EU law, the Brits couldn´t work for more than 48 hours a week, averaged over 17 weeks ( marketwatch ). 60% of Great Brtain`s laws came from the EU in Brussels rather than from Parliament in London. It's not hard to understand being pissed off at being subject to unaccountable bureaucrats in Brussels", writes Rolling Stone author Matt Taibbi ( rollingstone ).
 
Divorces are often costly & noisy - who gets the house, the children, the dog? Brexit is costly & noisy as well. There are ubiquitous short term problems, creating a lot of costs & noise.

But when the smoke has settled UK will be better off. History shows that divorces of nations often go well. Taiwan separated in 1949 from Motherland China which led to a "period of rapid economic growth and industrialization, creating a stable industrial economy" (wikipedia). Today Taiwan has a per capita income of $50,500, about 3-times of China ($16,700). Hong Kong, which got separated in the 19th century, has a per capita income of $61,500. Singapore did even better. The tiny state had been a part of Malaysia, but got kicked out in 1965 after political conflicts. The independence brought Singapore swift economic growth. Today the state belongs to the most advanced economies of the world with a per capita income of $94.100 (all numbers are from the CIA World Factbook cia.gov).

The British could learn from Switzerland, which was never member of the EU. Switzerland has a higher per-capita income as each of EU members and belongs to the wealthiest countries in the world. Great Britain will become more attractive for businesses when the country isn´t controlled by Brussels anymore and will become more liberal (in the sense of Hayek & Adam Smith) and less regulated.  The British economy will benefit from Brexit because the country will get rid of the EU over-regulation. "One of the very good things that could come of a Brexit: shaking off the Eurosklerosis that has held back growth in the Eurozone for many years", writes Scott Grannis  ( scottgrannis ). Eurosklerosis describes a pattern of economic stagnation in Europe that resulted from government over-regulation and overly generous social benefits policies.

The Catholic church and the Pope in Rome still don´t accept divorces, neither does the European Union. The EU Commission & the  European leaders, including Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, behave like the late Soviet Union. In the early 1990s Moscow fought against the separation of the Baltic States Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia which where then members of the Soviet Union. Today the Eurocrates are fighting Brexit because they want to keep their power.