Walls

The Great Wall of China took several thousand years to build and was primarily a method for stopping Mongolian invaders from expanding into China. As a piece of military technology it dominated all-comers however it was rendered entirely useless with the advent of the flying machine. The 20th Century was not a good one for the Chinese military defenses…Walls work until someone finds a way to bypass them completely.

So it is astonishing that the political agenda in Europe and the US is currently fixated on walls.

First, Europe. The pantomime that is Brexit has been derailed by the wall that may have to be built in Ireland to keep out cheap imports from a trade-liberated UK crossing into Europe. “Fancy a pair of these fine Italian shoes or these Chinese ones fresh in from Northern Ireland this morning at a quarter of the price?”  The reality is that this is the least of the worries for the EU who stand to have their service sectors decimated by liberal UK policies in the Finance, Legal and even Medical sectors. The City of London can easily attract companies and investors by simply cutting trading taxes or liberalising listing rules. No wall can stop this arbitrage.

Second, the US. The US Democrats have cut off funding the Government until President Trump abandons his promise to build a Wall along the Mexican border. If you had have asked Donald Trump “What do you think about shutting down the Government?” before he became President he would have said “Great idea!”. Not much has changed since becoming President. The irony of this tale is that the Democrats are the BIG GOVERNMENT believers and the shutdown is primarily at odds with both their philosophy and their constituency. Trump on the other hand, is in a win-win position and I suspect he would rather keep the Government shutdown than build his wall anyway!

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