Finance, Forex and Investments

Would you vote for Europe?

By 2010, the GDP- the total economic output of a country per year- for Japan, was around 5 trillion dollars, for China, this was roughly the same; the next largest global economy was the United States, with a GDP of 14.6 trillion dollars. the GDP of Europe, was 16.2 trillion dollars. By 2050, the Global Economy will rise from 72 trillion dollars to 380 trillion dollars, and, in 2050, the United States will lose its position as top dog, as India becomes the new largest economy and China slips to second, whilst the US slugs along in third place, barely ahead of Brazil, Russia and Japan. The economic landscape in 2050 will be very different, the E7 (China, India, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey) will overtake the G7 (US, Japan, Germany, UK, France, Italy and Canada) and the West will have a diminished standing. This is excellent news for the literally billions of people that live in India and China, as well as the fastest growing nations in the world today- Nigeria, Iraq, Bangladesh and Vietnam- it is pretty bad news for Europe, seeing as the biggest Economies in the EU are Germany, UK, France, Italy and Spain, with the UK expected to overtake Germany soon. The fact is that with those large economies we see the British not playing ball, the French pursuing their own agenda, the Germans having tantrums about the bail outs and Italy and Spain in massive amounts of debt. The European economic zone is currently number one in the world, however it is not regarded as one single economy because of the political rift in between member states. The ambitions of these nations are far greater than their reach individually, and the current form of European Unity isn't working the way it should. Is it time for a new Europe? What if, Europe became a Federal Union of States that individually have no international influence or recognition, but as a part of the Federation would be recognized as a conglomerate? Every state would have a high degree of autonomy from the Capital, determining things such as the drinking age, drug regulations, the driving age, film and game classification, the maintenance of roads and their own state police etc. as well as preserving culture, heritage, regional history and language. But the Capital deals with serious things, such as Education, Defence, Foreign Policy, Economy, Human Rights, Healthcare, Interstate Police, the Energy Supply, Space and Science, a Supreme Court and the Constitution. This system would be able to provide a stronger highway network across Europe, more railroads, the preservation of free trade, freedom of movement and for finances, retail and banking to compete on a continental scale, further driving down costs and all together propelling Europe into a period of high economic growth, low interest rates and a low cost of living. Furthermore, a Europe that is unified in the eyes of the world would be able to present itself as a serious player, a superpower that is able to determine the value of its currency, inflation rates, growth rates, export/imports, the ability to combine an effective and massively capable military to enforce its will would be a game changer. Europe could then help the US and Canada and push to keep the West in the running for economic dominance in 2050 and beyond. Would you vote for this?

Public Comments

1. AS I said yesterday No
2. No, the UK was strongest alone, and could be again if we weren't infected with liberal doctrine pressurised by the EU.
3. I am British. I am a European. The fools who hark back to the Commonwealth and/or the Empire to resurrect British power can only deposit the UK in the dustbin of history. However, after its obligations to Europe, the UK, should give preference where possible, to the Commonwealth and/or the Empire. The UK should use its European/Commonwealth/Empire connections to influence the rest of the world.
4. some Americans are wannabe Europeans and ashamed of their American identity
5. If national identities and cultures were protected and it is the clear wish of the people, then I would enthusiastically support the idea. But any federation must require the permission of the people and I couldn't support a European federation despite mt own support of the idea if the people of Europe were opposed to it.
6. NO. Like Europe--hate the E.U--got to get out. We need politician's with backbone in the UK--not these lilly livered spineless bstards we have now. Their stupid steam roller-ed decisions on our economy--their inane u-turns on the NHS--their cuts cuts and more cuts to the military and the police force--their extravagance in giving the poodles in brussels £45 MILLION A DAY 7 DAYS A WEEK of our hard earned money AND the money sent in aid--(which never gets there because it is often re-routed to murderous dictators/pirates/drug lords)--their inability to stem the floods of migrants to this country--all this and more will cost them dear one day. The UK is better off standing on its own with only trade between countries. We may not be the super power that we once were--but we ARE a serious player and can punch above our weight with the big guy's.
7. A united Europe was always a good idea. However, the pointless and destructive introduction of non EU members, in particular north African Islamists, has destroyed the hearts and minds of the people in most EU member states. The EU would work if the free movement you talk about was strictly EU members, and all member country's had total and complete control of their own borders for non member immigrants. The EU has become a greed fuelled dictatorship, this model needs first, to be completely rejected, and a new model introduced subject to a referendum in all member states. The EU has destroyed democracy and threatens to stamp all over any member country that gets in its way....Ireland being a prime example, after the peoples no vote was thrown out by the EU and the people of ireland were forced to vote again under threats of financial ruin. We either have democracy or we don't. BUT the people have the right to choose. The EU have virtually taken that right from the people. I personally will fight dictatorship and vote to get out of this Nazi style cock up. I don't like little strutting people bribing foul politicians to get them to become traitors to the interests of their own people. The whole EU mess stinks of bribery and corruption. I'll be glad when the people wake up and kick it out.
8. I'd love a federal Europe... however, I couldn't support it at the moment. - First, the economic situation is a disaster because of an over-reliance on credit (European economies have been based on borrowing and moving debt around for too long) and bubble economics (where people follow one another like sheep in invest in something which eventually turns out to be worth less than people thought). - Second, some European national governments are unstable or borderline corrupt and it would be a great risk to ally with them in such a strategic way. - Third, the current European political structure is a complex buraeucratic mess - any system based on it would almost certainly grind to a halt through massive organizational inertia. - Fourth, the current way European money is divided and spent is already something of a joke and a source of tensio. Further integration and a larger European budget would cause so much friction between member states that no laws would ever be passed.