One of Patrick Minford's mates at Economists for Free Trade (EFT) has a piece on Brexit Central (HERE) calling for the chancellor to send the world a message that we'll thrive outside the EU. Graham Leach says we, "need a vision of a low-tax, low-regulation economy, which will overpower Germany and France as the largest economy in Europe". This is the holy grail we've been searching for for the last century or more. Bizzarrely though we don't want to "overpower" them in the way they overpowered us, by solid long term investment in cutting edge manufacturing technology, good design, excellent after sales support and so on. No, we want to try to do it by creating a low tax, low regulation economy.
And although he doesn't say it he also means low wage, low standards, low quality of life. I don't believe for one millisecond the British people would accept it or that it would work anyway. The two examples he gives are countries inside the EU which have thrived with higher taxes and the same regulations that we have. There are others too, Holland and Belgium for example. No other EU nation is seriously talking about leaving the EU and racing us to the bottom of the regulatory heap.
His plan would almost certainly mean cutting ourselves off from the single market on our doorstep. The EU will not even offer a minimal free trade deal unless the playing field is a reasonably level one.
Leach says:
"The number one lesson of economic history is that freedom works: there is no more robust an economic relationship than that between economic freedom and prosperity. And if you’re going to make a statement, it needs to be a big one – because economic behaviour doesn’t change with small tweaks to the system".
He is another one who seems to equate working peacefully with your neighbours to improve social and environmental standards with slavery and subjugation. Madness isn't it?
