Commentary By Jared Meyer

Britain's Brexit Is the European Union's Loss

Culture, Economics Culture & Society

On June 23, the UK voted to end its strained relationship with the United States of Europe - the European Union. Markets around the world became volatile after what has been commonly referred to as "Brexit," as the pound sterling fell to its lowest level in three decades and the FTSE 250 ended this week with a heavy loss. But this market turmoil is only temporary.

The uncertainty surrounding the economic effect of Brexit and about what Parliament will do in the coming months has created this uneasiness. As Reason's Peter Suderman wrote:

The potential complexity of it all is incredibly intimidating. No one really knows how it will play out. So what you're seeing right now is panic induced by uncertainty, like kids becoming hysterical when they find out their parents are getting divorced. It's a big shock to the system.

But while uncertainty can be a prelude to catastrophe, and prolonged uncertainty can itself result in serious trouble, it's not necessarily a sign that everything is in the process of falling apart.

Many argue that this brief economic volatility is reason enough for residents of the UK to have voted "Remain." After all, Prime Minister David Cameron, who announced he was stepping down after the vote's results, proposed reforming the UK's relationship with the EU to avoid the "ever closer union" and the financial responsibility associated with bailing out the Eurozone. In retrospect, this was a doomed attempt to avoid both EU responsibilities and the headache of leaving the union. In the end, Cameron wanted to have it both ways, but the people realized that they could not.

Conservatives are not the only ones who wished for separation. Charles Cooke at National Review points out:

. . . It is notable that the election was won not on the playing fields of Eton or in the leafy gardens of England's Home Counties, but in the industrial Northeast and the blue-collar Midlands. Indeed, as the Mirror and others have observed, Leave's margin was provided not by a surfeit of conservatives, but by working-class social democrats who traditionally vote Labour but whose concerns are increasingly out of sync with the rest of their party.

The Brexit vote was not a fluke. Voter turnout was incredibly high at 72.2 percent, approximately 3 million more people than the 2015 election. After such great voter participation and strong support for the "Leave" campaign, it is clear that the EU's top-down regulations and immigration policies aren't wanted by the British.

These policies also bother residents of other EU countries. As my Manhattan Institute colleague Diana Furchtgott-Roth explained for Reaction:

The big losers of this vote are the Euro and the EU. Just like the child in the story who pointed out that the Emperor had no clothes, British voters have realized that the EU brings few benefits. If British voters see it, then voters in other countries will do so too.

The UK made a bold move this week in saying goodbye to the European Union. It should be bolder and add "good riddance." As the UK works to further establish itself on the international stage, markets will calm down and investment will continue to flow into the country.

This piece originally appeared on EpicTimes

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Jared Meyer is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute's Economics21. Follow him on Twitter here.

This piece originally appeared in Epic Times

Britain's Brexit Is the European Union's Loss

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