In reply to David Riley:
~ Are people irrational(insane), as opposed to just wrong, to decide that there are some economic advantages to leaving the EU ?
There clearly are since we pay more in than we get out.
1. I never said anyone was insane for voting leave. What I questioned is how it could be economically rational
2. Your argument seems to be based on the second part of the quote, that we pay more than we get out. At a government level this is true we are net contributors - from the CBI linked above "The UK’s net contribution to the EU budget is around €7.3bn, or 0.4% of GDP. As a comparison that’s around a quarter of what the UK spends on the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and less than an eighth of the UK’s defence spend. The £116 per person net contribution is less than that from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands."
however what you fail to account for is the benefit to business of being in the single market, again from the CBI "Access to a $16.6 trillion a year Single Market of 500m people is the key benefit
UK firms’ access to the Single Market goes beyond a standard free-trade agreement - the EU has eliminated tariff barriers and customs procedures within its borders, and has taken strides towards removing non-tariff barriers - such as different product regulations - by enforcing EU-wide competition law and coordinating product regulations.
76% of CBI members say that the ability to freely buy and sell products in the EU has had a positive impact on their business, including 74% of SMEs.
It has been estimated that UK trade with some countries in Europe could have increased by as much as 50% as a result of EU membership.
The Single Market also underpins access to European supply chains. In 2009 $207bn of the UK’s total of $293bn of exports to the rest of the EU27 was used as inputs to industries, rather than being consumed directly; and the UK imported $161bn of intermediates from the EU27 in 2009. Imported intermediates are important even to domestically-focused sectors: the health & social care sector used $19bn of imported intermediates (principally of pharmaceuticals and other chemicals).
The EU has helped open global markets to UK firms on strong terms
The EU is a springboard for trade with the rest of the world through its global clout: it accounted for 23% of the global economy in 2012 in dollar terms. Through 30 trade deals negotiated by the EU, including the Single Market itself, British firms have full access to a $24 trillion market. The recent deal with Canada and on-going discussions with Japan and the US could double this to $47 trillion - the UK would struggle to achieve the same quality of trade deals independently.
58% of CBI members think that extra-EU trade agreements have had a positive impact on their business, including 55% of SMEs, compared to 3% who thought the impact was negative.
Membership has increased flows of investment into the UK
Investment flows across borders inside the EU have roughly doubled following the introduction of the Single Market. As the EU’s leading investment destination, the UK was a key beneficiary: the EU accounted for 47% of the UK’s stock of inward FDI at the end of 2011, with investments worth over $1.2 trillion.
Access to the EU Single Market has also helped attract investment into the UK from outside the EU.
52% of CBI members say that the ability to invest in other EU states without restriction has had a positive impact on business."
If you are going to argue that membership of the EU costs our economy more than it gets as a benefit, please show some evidence.