This summer, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, bluntly told the American Council on Foreign Relations think tank that Europe was trapped in a high-tax, ultra-regulation model.
‘When [Canadian prime minister] Mark Carney said, ‘The middle powers should get together” – it’s a fantasy. They did that, it’s called Europe,’ Dimon said. ‘The GDP of Europe has gone from 90 per cent of America to 70 per cent. And in our view, it will probably continue to erode over time because of high taxes.’
The 27-country European Union’s response to such criticism has been to double down on its bad policies and try to enlarge its membership. On Sunday, their latest attempt came crashing to earth as Iceland’s electorate voted 53 per cent to 47 per cent not to even begin talks on becoming an EU member. Elites in the capital of Reykjavik were the only part of the country to vote ‘Yes’.
In the Iceland referendum campaign, EU backers made big mistakes
Iceland may be home to only 400,000 people, but it has become one of the most prosperous nations in the world. A majority of its voters didn’t see why it should be shackled to a European superstate that could dilute its sovereignty and control over its fishing waters.
