What do you know about... the UK?

[u/MarktpLatz]

This is the sixth part of our ongoing weekly series about the countries of Europe. You can find an overview here.

Todays country:

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The UK is the second most populous state in the EU. Famous for once being the worlds leading power, reigning over a large empire, it has recently taken the decision to exit the EU.

So, what do you know about the UK?

[u/[deleted]]

When you put it that way it makes us sound like the best nation ever

[u/karmagovernment → u/[deleted]]

We are. If not the best we're definatly top 3 or so.

The absurd anti-UK circle jerk in this sub doesn't change anything. There's a reason so many Europeans come to live here and there's a reason they're all so butthurt that the UK rejected them.

[u/AbstractLemgth → u/karmagovernment]

things I know about the UK #1: there is always someone with a union jack flair claiming that there is an anti-UK circlejerk on /r/europe while also slagging off every other nation for dumbshit reasons

[u/karmagovernment → u/AbstractLemgth]

No where near to the same extent, and you know it

[u/AbstractLemgth → u/karmagovernment]

I don't 'know it', actually. Everywhere you look there's some UK flair getting upset because someone didn't compliment the country on how big and grown up it's looking because its population voted to leave a 28 country economic bloc and stand alone.

[u/karmagovernment → u/AbstractLemgth]

Everywhere you look there's some UK flair getting upset because someone didn't compliment the country

No, everywhere you look there's some miscellaneous European spitting diatribe against the UK and about the greatness of the EU.

[u/AbstractLemgth → u/karmagovernment]

Well you know, maybe there's something in it that rEU, on top of all of those nasty experts considers it a stupid decision which will negatively impact the country in the long term, and are just pretty impressed that an entire country can be hoodwinked by a bus.

Also when you describe the other 27 countries of the EU as 'butthurt' it's not like it's unprompted.

[u/karmagovernment → u/AbstractLemgth]

those nasty experts

Those nasty experts that unanimously agreed Britain should join the euro or risk complete economic irrelevance? The same experts who all failed to spot the 08 financial crash? The same ones who predicted the British economy would drop off a cliff at the first sign of a Brexit vote?

[u/AbstractLemgth → u/karmagovernment]

Those nasty experts that unanimously agreed Britain should join the euro

Lmfao there was not 'unanimous agreement' on joining the Euro. Brown literally rejected the join because it failed one of the five tests which it would have to pass for the UK to apply for membership of the Eurozone. The predictions also did not take into account, you know, the global financial crisis, which the euro has hindered recovery from.

The same experts who all failed to spot the 08 financial crash?

They did not 'all fail to spot' the crash. A bubble was known about but you can't predict when a bubble will burst, nor the size of it. On top of that, it wasn't possible to predict due to the fraudulent practices of the banks and regulatory agencies - it's very fucking difficult to predict how a system will behave when the data you're using is fabricated. Although a few people did in fact realise the scale of it despite these hindrances - there was a fucking movie made about it.

The same ones who predicted the British economy would drop off a cliff at the first sign of a Brexit vote?

The only organisation which said that was the treasury under George Osborne, and he's a dickhead. All others recognised a drop of up to 6% in GDP in the long term under the 'hard brexit', which is not (necessarily) the same as a recession.

[u/karmagovernment → u/AbstractLemgth]

there was not 'unanimous agreement'

Amongst the "expert economists" and politicos at trans-national organizations there was.

They absolutely did fail to spot the crash.

The IMF made very negative predictions for right after the vote. Even the pro-EU anti-UK Guardian reported on it.

[u/AbstractLemgth → u/karmagovernment]

Amongst the "expert economists" and politicos at trans-national organizations there was.

They suggested a small positive increase for UK GDP, which is correct, since reducing non-tariff barriers to trade with your largest trading partner generally helps trade. The problem is that the Eurozone was not built to cope with a big fucking recession. It is out of sheer luck that we didn't join the Eurozone and experience a delayed recovery.

They absolutely did fail to spot the crash.

I'm literally just going to copy and paste what i already wrote because you're just repeated yourself and clearly just ignored everything I wrote.

They did not 'all fail to spot' the crash. A bubble was known about but you can't predict when a bubble will burst, nor the size of it. On top of that, it wasn't possible to predict due to the fraudulent practices of the banks and regulatory agencies - it's very fucking difficult to predict how a system will behave when the data you're using is fabricated. Although a few people did in fact realise the scale of it despite these hindrances - there was a fucking movie made about it.

The IMF made very negative predictions for right after the vote

You can literally read their report right here, which says precisely what I just wrote.

'Economists agree that increased barriers to the EU would be damaging to trade with the EU—assessments vary about whether and how the UK could compensate. There is no dispute among economists that increased trade barriers with the EU would lead to lower UK exports to the EU. Studies differ in their assessment of the degree of deterioration and what the UK could do to offset the damage'

Their own long-term negative predictions range between -1% and -6%. They also predict a 'material impact on short-term growth', but not a full-on recession.