In this post, the focus is on the issue of referenda, again, in the context of the British Electorate’s decision to secede from the European Union in 2016. We have looked at the issue of ‘Brexit’ on a number of occasions here in Financial Regulation Matters , for obvious reasons, but only really once from a systemic/theoretical viewpoint. Yet, in light of comments today from one of the most influential business leaders in the world, it is perhaps timely to revisit the issue once more and look more systematically at the issue of referenda and their effects. In this modern world where direction is presented via a Tweet, Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, delivered a telling tweet earlier today that will surely have an effect upon development in the U.K. In his Tweet he stated that there was ‘lots of hand-wringing’ from CEOs regarding Brexit, and that with the Brexit decision being so ‘monumental and irreversible’, ‘ why not make sure consensus [is] still there ’? Effectiv...

This week in the world of business has been dominated by massive trade deals and bitter trade disputes, with this post suggesting that a link between the two is that the outcome of these developments portrays a vision for those British voters who voted to leave the E.U. of what post-Brexit Britain will look like. In what is proving to be a great advert for the E.U. and its members not following the path of the British (a message sharply delivered by the French and German electorate this year, despite the rise of the AfD ), the plight of Canadian company Bombardier is, for a variety of reasons, bringing the reality home to the British in a remarkable way. In this post then the focus will be on the ongoing trade dispute between Bombardier and Boeing, which is quickly elevating into a political catastrophe, and the merger of French company Alstom with its German Counterpart Siemens (leaving Bombardier in the cold), which in itself demonstrates the capability that exists within a co...