Letter to the editor:
As if the world economy did not have enough headaches already, the United Kingdom, in a surprise outcome, has voted to leave the European Union, precipitating a sharp decrease in the value of the British pound and rocking stock indices from the United States to Japan. This is sobering news for the global economy, especially considering a report released by the World Bank earlier this month estimated a sharp decrease in the global growth forecast, from 2.9% to 2.4%.
Just as it appears that even the most developed countries seem unable to help themselves or their less developed counterparts, there is at least one viable solution: aggressively tackling global poverty. Thus, for the greater good, wealthier countries should provide more foreign aid to the poorest countries.
Providing aid, as the United States does through the International Affairs Budget, is not a budgetary waste. By stabilizing the most impoverished lives, companies everywhere gain access to markets of labor, capital and consumers they never had access to before.
Given the United Kingdom’s self-inflicted ouster from the open European Union market, it would do well to set an example of how to shore up its economy as it sails into uncharted political and financial waters.
Neil Decenteceo; Royal Palm Beach, Fla.
Letter to the editor:
The United States should join Australia, Canada and New Zealand in seeking closer economic, cultural and political ties with the UK as it separates from the EU. The UK and its offshoot nations are our friends, given a shared history, language, legal system and commitment to democracy.
If the U.S. had acted jointly with those countries throughout the 20th century, rather than only for limited periods, I think both world wars would have been shorter or avoided, and the global economy would have been far stronger. Today’s threats of terrorism, rising dictatorship, climate change and economic stagnation are no less serious, and also best addressed by a united front.
Christopher S. Edwards; New York
We asked our followers what lessons Americans should learn from Britain’s vote to leave the EU. Twitter comments are edited for clarity, length and grammar:
Centralized government does not work and only helps the elite at the expense of everyone.
— @hyperion5182
The economic crash following “Brexit” is just a small preview of the chaos that would be unleashed if Americans elect Donald Trump for president.
— @jetsjets
I’m afraid one lesson may be that a free vote “needs” to be overturned unless the result is the “correct” one.
— @DavidWJones2016
An oppressive government can be stopped with courage. Something we need to do now here in the U.S.
— @HH41848213
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