EUROPEAN UNION
THE SCOTLAND REFERENDUM & THE LESSONS FOR 2017 - awaiting publication
LESSONS FROM THE SCOTTISH REFERENDUM CAMPAIGN, 11 March 2014 The mistakes made by Alex Salmond highlight the need for EU withdrawalists to have clear plans properly stress-tested. Regardless of the way Scots vote, there will be no real Scottish independence following this referendum.
GLADSTONE MAKES IT ALL SIMPLE, 18 April 2014 (Vol. 19,No.8, p.5) This article discusses how British government dealt with treaties and guarantees, both in 1870 and 1914, and how the current German government and the EU have breached both the Growth and Stability Pact and the budget provisions of the Maastricht Treaty.
LIECHTENSTEIN HAS IT ALL, 10 March 2014. It is possible to be in the European Economic Area, the Single Market and to restrict immigration by the safeguard clauses of the EEA Agreement. Liechtenstein shows how it is done.
THE PATHWAY TO EXIT FROM THE EU, 20 December 2013 The correct path to victory is to stay in the Single Market and get David Cameron to explain why he does not want to jettison all the political baggage of the EU project.
REPLACEMENT MIGRATION, 10 November 2011. This article shows immigration offers an immense area for the bureaucratic and legal expansion of the EU. On 23 October 2011, the EU Commissioner for Justice, Franco Frattini, once again proposed the flat-earth theory of bringing in immigrants to reduce the dependency rates. It contrasts Frattini's statement with that of George Borjas, the Harvard expert on migration, who said, "Even driving a stake through the heart of these factoids will not annihilate them (they are much too useful to advocates)."
BRITAIN'S MISSING SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS, 31 October 2011. A comprehensive calculation of the fiscal effects of EU budget contributions on the health of the finances of the British government. This is rarely discussed. It reveals that, between 1973 and 2010, these amounted to £379 billion (at 2010 prices), or 42% of the national debt.
THE FOUR FREEDOMS, 18 September 2009. An investigation into 'the four freedoms' shows that free movement of goods and services means free movement within the EU and in/out of the EU, as determined by the European Union Commission. This study shows that the free movement of people, unlike trade, has an enormous effect on wealth and the permanent labour supply - at the expense of natives.
REFLECTIONS ON THE REVOLUTION, 7 September 2009. A review of Christopher Caldwell's excellent book entitled 'Reflections on the Revolution in Europe'. The Financial Times' journalist's question is, 'Can Europe be the same with different people in it?' and 'The answer is no'. His book argues that the European political class has suffered a nervous breakdown over the immigration issue.
FREEDOM, NOT A FREE-FOR-ALL, Autumn 2009. Speech made to Freedom Association and the City of London.
MOLDOVAN DECISION ILLUMINATES COST OF FREE MOVEMENT, 29 April 2009. This review, written in 2009, explains how the right to the free movement of labour inevitably lowers wage levels in the recipient country. The Romanian government has promised to give Romanian citizenship and, therefore, the right to move to and work in the UK, to about one quarter of the Moldovian population.
MEMBERSHIP OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. The Mother of all Fiscal Contractions, 24 Nov. 2008. This article shows that there is fiscal contraction inherent in Britain's EU membership via the budget, via the trade deficit, and via excessive food prices. It calculates that payments to the EU over a five-year period amount to a fiscal contraction of at least £200 billion.
HOUSE OF LORDS' REPORT UNDERMINES EU IMMIGRATION POLICY, 4 July 2008. A commentary on the report of the House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs shows it completely rejects all EU economic arguments in favour of immigration. Its conclusion is that it is an absurd idea to keep the dependency rates down via high immigration.
PACT FOR IMMIGRATION, 27 June 2008. An analysis of the article in Le Figaro of 30 May 2008, in which Bruce Hortefeux, the French minister, proposed a 'pacte pour l'immigration' - that is, increasing immigration via a 'blue card' shows that he has not bothered with the most cursory analysis of the main effects of population change. It was interesting that his plans were welcomed by the European Parliament.
THE EU'S IMMIGRATION POLICY, 22 May 2008. An analysis of EU statements at Tampare (1999) and the Hague (2001) which showed a strong belief in the flat-earth theory of immigration but without any economic analysis.
DEMOGRAPHY IS DESTINY, 24 April 2008. This paper gives a warning that the EU project includes a new political and demographic reality. A long-term goal of EU policy is quite clear: a uniform European political order and the generation of a Home Europeanus with a loyalty to that order. All rising powers have taken an interest in the demographic make-up of their people: who lives where and under what political order.
AN URBAN MYTH, 1 June 2007. An amusing account of how europhiles massively exaggerate the number of French people in London. Those perpetuating the myth cannot agree the figures among themselves and put forward ridiculous and contradictory estimates.
ANOTHER VEIL DISCARDED, 25 October 2005. This article shows how Gordon Brown's article in The Financial Times of 13th October 2005 undermines the case for EU membership. The Chancellor complained that Britain's low growth was due to the high proportion of trade carried out with the eurozone. Yet, at the same time, he argued for the benefits of the Single Market which, by definition, is designed to increase Britain's trade with the EU.
LESSONS FROM THE SCOTTISH REFERENDUM CAMPAIGN, 11 March 2014 The mistakes made by Alex Salmond highlight the need for EU withdrawalists to have clear plans properly stress-tested. Regardless of the way Scots vote, there will be no real Scottish independence following this referendum.
GLADSTONE MAKES IT ALL SIMPLE, 18 April 2014 (Vol. 19,No.8, p.5) This article discusses how British government dealt with treaties and guarantees, both in 1870 and 1914, and how the current German government and the EU have breached both the Growth and Stability Pact and the budget provisions of the Maastricht Treaty.
LIECHTENSTEIN HAS IT ALL, 10 March 2014. It is possible to be in the European Economic Area, the Single Market and to restrict immigration by the safeguard clauses of the EEA Agreement. Liechtenstein shows how it is done.
THE PATHWAY TO EXIT FROM THE EU, 20 December 2013 The correct path to victory is to stay in the Single Market and get David Cameron to explain why he does not want to jettison all the political baggage of the EU project.
REPLACEMENT MIGRATION, 10 November 2011. This article shows immigration offers an immense area for the bureaucratic and legal expansion of the EU. On 23 October 2011, the EU Commissioner for Justice, Franco Frattini, once again proposed the flat-earth theory of bringing in immigrants to reduce the dependency rates. It contrasts Frattini's statement with that of George Borjas, the Harvard expert on migration, who said, "Even driving a stake through the heart of these factoids will not annihilate them (they are much too useful to advocates)."
BRITAIN'S MISSING SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS, 31 October 2011. A comprehensive calculation of the fiscal effects of EU budget contributions on the health of the finances of the British government. This is rarely discussed. It reveals that, between 1973 and 2010, these amounted to £379 billion (at 2010 prices), or 42% of the national debt.
THE FOUR FREEDOMS, 18 September 2009. An investigation into 'the four freedoms' shows that free movement of goods and services means free movement within the EU and in/out of the EU, as determined by the European Union Commission. This study shows that the free movement of people, unlike trade, has an enormous effect on wealth and the permanent labour supply - at the expense of natives.
REFLECTIONS ON THE REVOLUTION, 7 September 2009. A review of Christopher Caldwell's excellent book entitled 'Reflections on the Revolution in Europe'. The Financial Times' journalist's question is, 'Can Europe be the same with different people in it?' and 'The answer is no'. His book argues that the European political class has suffered a nervous breakdown over the immigration issue.
FREEDOM, NOT A FREE-FOR-ALL, Autumn 2009. Speech made to Freedom Association and the City of London.
MOLDOVAN DECISION ILLUMINATES COST OF FREE MOVEMENT, 29 April 2009. This review, written in 2009, explains how the right to the free movement of labour inevitably lowers wage levels in the recipient country. The Romanian government has promised to give Romanian citizenship and, therefore, the right to move to and work in the UK, to about one quarter of the Moldovian population.
MEMBERSHIP OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. The Mother of all Fiscal Contractions, 24 Nov. 2008. This article shows that there is fiscal contraction inherent in Britain's EU membership via the budget, via the trade deficit, and via excessive food prices. It calculates that payments to the EU over a five-year period amount to a fiscal contraction of at least £200 billion.
HOUSE OF LORDS' REPORT UNDERMINES EU IMMIGRATION POLICY, 4 July 2008. A commentary on the report of the House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs shows it completely rejects all EU economic arguments in favour of immigration. Its conclusion is that it is an absurd idea to keep the dependency rates down via high immigration.
PACT FOR IMMIGRATION, 27 June 2008. An analysis of the article in Le Figaro of 30 May 2008, in which Bruce Hortefeux, the French minister, proposed a 'pacte pour l'immigration' - that is, increasing immigration via a 'blue card' shows that he has not bothered with the most cursory analysis of the main effects of population change. It was interesting that his plans were welcomed by the European Parliament.
THE EU'S IMMIGRATION POLICY, 22 May 2008. An analysis of EU statements at Tampare (1999) and the Hague (2001) which showed a strong belief in the flat-earth theory of immigration but without any economic analysis.
DEMOGRAPHY IS DESTINY, 24 April 2008. This paper gives a warning that the EU project includes a new political and demographic reality. A long-term goal of EU policy is quite clear: a uniform European political order and the generation of a Home Europeanus with a loyalty to that order. All rising powers have taken an interest in the demographic make-up of their people: who lives where and under what political order.
AN URBAN MYTH, 1 June 2007. An amusing account of how europhiles massively exaggerate the number of French people in London. Those perpetuating the myth cannot agree the figures among themselves and put forward ridiculous and contradictory estimates.
ANOTHER VEIL DISCARDED, 25 October 2005. This article shows how Gordon Brown's article in The Financial Times of 13th October 2005 undermines the case for EU membership. The Chancellor complained that Britain's low growth was due to the high proportion of trade carried out with the eurozone. Yet, at the same time, he argued for the benefits of the Single Market which, by definition, is designed to increase Britain's trade with the EU.