vand wrote:Apart from the fact that it's paywalled, I hardly consider the Economist to know anything about real economics, and yes I am not joking. Article seems like an opinion or news piece designed to stir the hornet's nest.
Before you nail your colours to the anti immigration deck you'd do well to consider the debt that Britain owes the world from its, ah, let's say more "globally expansive" era.
I'm afraid if you only ever want your news and information for free, you are only going to get partial and potentially biased reports.
It would be interesting to see a full profit and loss account for Britain's Empire, which debt I assume you are referring to. As a student of industrial history, I know that Britain's dominating position in trade around the World, mainly in the 18th and 19th Centuries, was based heavily on successful businesses in the UK. Biggest producer of coal, iron & steel, non ferrous metals, biggest engineering innovator and cotton and wool manufacturer, and with healthy agriculture and fisheries, much of those profits were invested in developing the Empire and other foreign business ventures. Britain led the campaign against slavery and the spreading of civilization, democracy and human rights. Of course many of those ventures were subsequently nationalised without proper compensation, and we had to spend much of that wealth protecting the World in two devastating wars. Against that wealth of treasure and innovation which we donated to the World, the trials of West Indian slaves in the 18th Century, in my opinion, are trivial.