The EU is based on the idea of laissez-faire. The official website of the European Union itself says on trade:
Free trade among its members was one of the EU’s founding principles, and it is committed to opening up world trade as well.
So it was initially shocking for me in early 2016 why UK leftists were supportive of the UK remaining in the EU. But over time I have come to realise that the left is just fake and is imperialist, manufacturing consent for the ruling class. Academia is so far ahead of the media in manufacturing consent.
Nicholas Kaldor was the most vocal among economists for not joining the EU in the ’70s and I am sure he would have been vocal about leaving the EU had he been alive.
Perry Anderson wrote recently on Brexit in New Left Review and has now written again for London Review Of Books. Not one but three!
Links:
Now, they’re criticisms of the EU but given that Perry Anderson has a lot of respects in many circles, it could have come much earlier when it was most needed. When personal costs are high, it’s brave. At any rate, better late than never!
45,746 words over three essays! Happy reading.