Britain’s Great Wealth Revival approaches…
I can’t wait. And I hope you are excited to watch it too. If you are keen to step beyond insight and opinion… to start receiving regular, actionable investment recommendations in your hands… you will not want to miss it.
But Nigel’s exciting new broadcast is not the only thing that could change your life this month…
With our politicians doing their damndest to muck up Brexit until the very last possible moment, it’s time to remind ourselves why we’re leaving.
Because Britain will be better off. It’s really that simple.
This promises the potential for profits for those investors who choose their investments carefully. That’s going to be a key theme of Britain’s Great Wealth Revival. Set yourself a reminder: Monday at 2pm.
Don’t miss it.
My biggest fear is that our readers are holding the stocks in the FTSE 100, hoping the British stockmarket will boom after Brexit.
Why do I fear it? Because those stocks aren’t very British at all. In fact, I think they’re likely to underperform after Brexit, thanks to the pound rising.
But that’s another story. Today, we remind ourselves of the reasons why Britain will boom after Brexit. The sorts of things which economic models predicting doom and gloom don’t take into account…
- Political accountability will make a comeback
It doesn’t really matter how many eurosceptics are elected to the European Parliament. The policymaking, legislative and executive branch of the EU is the European Commission. Which is chosen by Europe’s political leaders, not its people. And so the campaign of European integration will continue, whether voters like it or not.
But, after Brexit, political accountability will return to British policymaking. And I think that’ll usher in a radical change not possible anywhere inside the EU.
Our leaders will no longer have the excuse that they’re bound by European directives from our unelected leaders. They’ll be able to deliver on political promises, not just make them. And, if they don’t deliver, the threat of other parties will hold them to account.
It’ll be democracy with proper accountability. Something which we haven’t had for a long time in the UK…
Think about what all this does to UK government policy over time. What sort of politicians are more likely to get elected? What sort of politicians are more likely to get fired by their own party in fear of under-delivering? Do you think Herman Van Rompuy would’ve become our leader in an election?
Suddenly, British politics is going to matter again. Because that’s where the action will be. And it’s also where British voters will make their pleasure… or displeasure known, with real effect.
The best example of this is all over the news at the moment. People are worried about trade disruptions with the EU in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Well, after a no-deal Brexit, Britain would be able to make its own trade policy. We’ll be able to decide customs, tariff and regulatory policy, including enforcement.
Do you think a British government will prevent or delay medicines or fruit from being imported from the EU? Do you think they’ll keep in place regulations that could slow down such trade? Do you think they’ll man the Northern Irish border to prevent EU customs union grown potatoes from getting smuggled across the border?
Or do you think they’ll change trade policy to ensure this does not happen?
I know what I think…
I know what the average British voter would do at the next election if the government doesn’t use their new-found powers to prevent such things from happening…
Meanwhile, the Irish are mortified. They won’t be able to set their own trade policy relative to Britain. It’s not in their power – that’s the EU’s. They won’t be able to avoid having to do something that the EU requires whether they like it or not.
They might even have to create a border with the UK… and we’ve heard all about how wrong this would be, haven’t we?
- Harmonisation is socialism in disguise
The EU is pursuing a grand project of harmonisation. It wants laws and policies to converge between nations in the EU.
Which actually sounds rather sensible at first. If you’re going to have a customs union and shared foreign policy, it makes sense to converge on other policies too.
A lot of global institutions like the G20 and World Economic Forum have similar goals in mind on an even broader scale.
Either way, there’s an inherent problem with harmonisation. It abolishes competition between governments to make good policies. And that competition is all which prevents the creep towards socialism.
The obvious example that best illustrates my point is Ireland’s corporate tax rate. The Irish kept their company tax very low in a deliberate effort to attract investment. And it worked. It worked so well that my sister was born in Ireland largely thanks to the policy.
But Ireland has caught the attention of the EU’s harmonisation attempts. The EU wants corporate tax to converge. Here’s the problem. Do you think they want the French to lower their corporate taxes to match Irelands, thereby making the French economy boom as Ireland’s did?
Don’t make me laugh!
The only thing stopping nations from raising taxes to painfully high levels is competition between nations. The French can’t raise their company taxes as high as they’d like because companies would just leave for Ireland.
This competition keeps the worst policies in check across the EU. Without it, politicians across Europe will be able to raise taxes and regulation to ever higher levels. If companies can’t escape to the likes of Ireland, they can be taxed far more heavily across the EU. That’s what’s behind “harmonisation”.
But Britain, free of the obligation to harmonise, will be able to pursue just the sorts of policies Ireland did on many different levels. Regulation, taxes, free ports, trade, medicines and anything else you can think of.
The EU doesn’t fear Britain becoming Singapore on Thames. It fears Britain’s escape from the EU’s high-tax and high-regulation future – that’ll be enough to outcompete.
- Different countries require different laws
An Englishman, an Irishman and a German walk into a bar. What makes this joke work is their differences between them, of course.
Apply the same law to those three people and you’ll get wildly different results.
When I was crossing the street opposite our office a few months ago, a bunch of people around me jaywalked. The map-wielding German tourists behind me remarked, “Hier geht jeder so wie er will!” Which literally means, “Here, everyone goes as they like.” In other words, British people just cross the road whenever it’s safe instead of waiting for the traffic lights…
I could’ve responded that, “On the Autobahn, everyone drives as fast as they like…” Something which seems bonkers to Brits. But it works perfectly well for the Germans.
In Japan, people go out of their way to appear conscientious and considerate, even when it’s irritating and inconsiderate. The amount of near car crashes I’ve seen caused by people bowing at the wheel is terrifying.
If you’re ever walking behind a Japanese person who is on the phone, keep a clear distance. They may suddenly freeze and bend over in front of you, bowing to whoever is on the other end of the phone. If you keep walking when they do this… well…
Different cultures have very different perceptions of risk, what’s acceptable and what’s expected. The law is a very blunt tool in the face of all this. But applying harmonisation and law across the EU doesn’t take this into account.
Germany’s banking system is very different to other countries in the EU. Cash use varies wildly between different countries within the EU. Tax evasion and black market activity varies wildly. Applying a single set of laws on all these different people creates divergent outcomes, not convergence.
After Brexit, Britain will be able to make the laws that make sense for Britain. For our oddities and odd traits, if you are willing to admit we have any…
- Immigration policy is the key to 29 years of uninterrupted economic growth
This year, Australia was struck by its first recession in almost 30 years. That’s a record amongst developed economies.
The last recession – defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth – was in 1991.
But there’s a bit of sandpaper involved here too. I’ll let the Americans at the St. Louis Federal Reserve clear things up for you…
Australia has had three recessions since 1991 when looking at GDP per capita, […]
This discrepancy between the growth rate of per capita GDP and the growth rate of GDP implies that population growth has been a key factor for Australia’s economic expansion. A rising population increases the size of the economy, and therefore total output increases, which is reflected in the level of GDP.
However, the fact that we do see economic downturns in per capita terms means that population is growing faster than GDP. For nearly 40 years, Australia has had a higher population growth rate than other industrialized economies, […]
In other words, the Aussie economy only avoided recessions because its population grew and this goosed GDP. How did the Aussies manage this? Well, there are two ways to increase your population… Only one of which I’ll mention here…
The Aussies did it in the same way they do the Olympics. By stealing the world’s best and brightest. With a high volume and high-quality immigration policy, they kept total GDP growing.
Can you think of any other nation which may be able to try just that, once it can control immigration?
By selecting precisely the immigrants Britain needs and wants, we can use immigration as an economic policy lever which has proved rather successful for some. We might even let in some more Aussies…
- £350 million more… under our control
Do you remember the drama about the Brexit bus…?
No doubt you’d rather forget it. But I think it really reveals something very important.
The debate was about whether to use the gross or net figure. We may send a load of money to the EU, but we get a lot back too. Isn’t it misleading to only mention the money we send and not what we get back?
The trouble is, not all of the money which we get back is under our control. It gets spent by the EU’s decision makers, not ours.
Brexit isn’t just about the net contribution to the EU. It’s also about gaining back control of the money which we used to send to the EU and get back again as it saw fit.
As former Italian deputy PM Matteo Salvini tweeted, “Each year, we give €6bn more than we receive. We don’t need money from other countries, we’re asking to use our money how we want to.” It’s about control of these funds.
If you have any doubts about who would do a better job of spending British money in Britain, well I did too, to be honest. Then I saw a great deal of EU funded projects in eastern Europe in 2016. They don’t call them bridges to nowhere for nothing…
And perhaps that’s really the broader point here.
Perfect is the enemy of the good
In the film Master and Commander, the Royal Navy ship’s captain asks his surgeon to choose between two weevils wriggling on a plate of bread.
Having reluctantly chosen based on one’s “advantage in length and breadth”, the captain replies to his surgeon, “There, I have you! You’re completely dished! Do you not know that in the service, you should always choose the lesser of two weevils?!”
Faced with the choice between Ursula von der Leyen and Boris Johnson, I know which weevil I’d choose.
Before I go today…
I want to make sure you understand what is coming your way on Monday afternoon.
Half an hour before Nigel’s exclusive broadcast goes live, you will receive a private viewing link. That will take you to a special webpage, where you can watch Britain’s Great Wealth Revival.
It goes live from 2pm.
Nigel’s new crusade – to put high quality recommendations in the hands of ambitious investors – is important right now.
My sense, from reading the emails that I receive from Fortune & Freedom readers, is that people are looking for an additional source of investment intelligence and opportunities… from someone they can trust.
And Nigel is not shy (!) in stating who he wants to benefit from this. He believes that those who are optimistic about Britain’s sovereign future… those who voted for freedom once, at the ballot box…
And are ready to grasp a chance to regain financial independence…
Stand to gain the most.
Is that you?
You’ll have the chance to decide on Monday. Not long to wait now.
Nick Hubble
Editor, Fortune & Freedom
PS I’m going to ask you to do something unusual right now. I’m going to ask you to be clear-headed. That’s right. In the midst of a pandemic, and a period of great change for Britain… the path ahead is a lot clearer than the hysterical mainstream media would have you believe.
That’s why, Nigel and I have spent a good deal of time mapping out what Britain’s future could look like, out of the EU.
We created two special briefings for our readers – to give you an insight into what may be ahead. Guess what? It’s not Armageddon. Blood will not rain from the skies. In fact, we believe, as I have just shared with you, there is a real case for Britain to flourish.
Before Nigel’s broadcast goes live on Monday at 2pm, take some time to read the below report. It will get you in the frame of mind to take advantage of what may be around the corner… not merely a passive onlooker, like so many others will end up being.
Primer #1: Why Britain will boom after Brexit
Take the time to run through the report, and you will be able to hit the ground running, come Monday’s broadcast of Britain’s Great Wealth Revival.
