Posted: Jul 05, 2016 5:17 am
zoon wrote:Without disagreeing with [Calilasseia's] view of the Panama Papers rich, I think the underlying problem is not so much tax evasion as technology and globalisation, which have led to the disappearance of whole industries across the developed world, leaving the millions of people who used to run them without worthwhile jobs. There's a piece today on the BBC website here about a hollowed-out Ohio town which was thriving forty years ago. Nobody seems to have much idea of what to do about it. I most certainly agree with your opinion of those who hijacked the discontent in the UK.
The long-term solution is to raise living standards across the globe, so countries are competing on efficiency and quality, not undercutting and exploitation, but that's a very long-term solution.
Meanwhile, however much it offends free market dogma, there's a place for tariffs and trade blocs, for that great bogeyman, protectionism: but protectionism must never come to be relied on, or viewed as anything but a temporary if necessary evil. To avoid isolationism and stagnation, it's gotta be allied with aiding developing countries, enlightened self-interest to make their citizens' lives better, and to stop them from driving domestic industries to ruin. A Marshall Aid scale plan, tied to political reforms.
Equally crucial is the ruthless prosecution of the monopolist behavior of the mega-rich, and strong regulation of markets. And, for those at home, government investment and incentive to cushion the blow, with focus on precision engineering and industry. Rust belt areas blight nations.
You get those things with international cooperation. Unlovable as much of the EU is, in an interconnected world, it and similar organizations are necessary. Attempting to pull up the drawbridge, as Brexit's done, is the worst possible solution, one that'll fail (goods and capital will continue to flow), and drive nations into an isolationist mire that, if not reversed, will see them fragment and go under the tide of globalization.