In the controversy about immigration that is now raging between membersof the European Union, nowhere do you find any mention of some overall plan regarding how to deal with the long term problem. Europe has begun to accept for humanitarian reasons, immigrants arriving to seek asylum. But do proposals exist for a long term plan, based on estimates as to the scale of the challenge?
Beyond the allocation of refugees among EU member states, questions arise, such as: How many people are estimated will arrive in Europe as refugees?
What facilities need to be built or upgraded to meet with their requirements?
What will be the needs of refugees by way of accomodation, living expenses and social integration?
What is going to be done to ensure that for as long as they remain in Europe, refugees can make a productive contribution to the European economy without undercutting European workers?
And how much would such a programme cost over a five year time frame?
How could it be financed?
It would be useful to have public answers to such questions.
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Referendum question
The British government headed by Prime Minister Cameron has accepted the criticism made by his country’s electoral commission regarding the question to be put in the referendum that will decide whether the UK should exit the EU or stay.
The commission made clear its disagreement with the idea that the question should be framed in such a way that the reply to it would have to be either yes or no. The question should instead allow electors to choose between two alternative policies.
At long last, an awareness is emerging about how governments can easily manipulate the referenda which they organize. One trick is to set things up in such a way that those who agree with their proposal must vote yes, and those who disagree, vote no. So the latter are perceived as being negative.
At least, it will not be possible to play this game in the British referendum.
Yet, as a cynical friend of mine observed, Cameron could have agreed to change the format of the question because he himself still does not know whether he will be in favour of Britain staying in the EU or getting out.
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More cars?
The increase of over 5 per cent in real terms registered by the economy is truly impressive. Many moons have passed since we last approached this rate.
I always considered it essential for the economy to reach similar growth rates if it was to mobilise the funds needed to modernize the island’s productive and social infrastructure. During the first two decades following Independence and for some time after that, such growth rates had been frequently achieved and sustained.
There are pitfalls to keep in mind. One is that the increase of wealth created in the economcy, could trigger over consumption. You could prospect for instance that private car sales will boom, on top of the boom that has been rolling for some time.
Traffic in roads and streets is already tightly packed. A further strong rise in the number of cars on the road would have a tremendous economic, social and environmental impact.