To my friends in Britain...

My dear British friends,

I am writing this blog post sitting thousands of miles away from your beautiful island at a time of increased uncertainty concerning your decision on whether or not you would like to stay in the European Union. I am not a European. And I am not British. But that doesn’t matter – in the sense that the world is so interconnected today that everything has a ripple effect. And those ripples go back and forth. It affects us all. Positively or negatively. We are living in a world of increased financial uncertainty. We all fell together in 2008 during the onset of the recession. And nothing should stop us from getting up and marching together as we build a financially secure world for every good human being on this planet. 

Over the weekend, I met an elderly couple from Scotland. I asked them how they would vote in the upcoming referendum. They said that they will vote to leave the EU. And when I asked them why, they gave me two reasons – 1. Homelessness is on the rise in Aberdeen and other places in Scotland. 2. They want to use this opportunity to send a message to the elites, bankers and financial markets about how angry and disappointed they are with the status quo. I felt their genuine frustration. And there was validity in the concerns that they expressed. The National Health Services (NHS) is under stress; the housing markets are over-priced due to the influx of foreign money; public services are under stress due to a surge in immigrants. 

And here I am telling you the same thing that I tried to tell them - that leaving the EU will not really solve any of these problems. Voting to leave will not affect the elites or the bankers. The elites and the bankers make money when the world is great; they also make money when the world is not great. But you leaving the EU will affect the rest of us all. I respect that it is your sovereignty. And it is your decision. But undoubtedly, a Brexit will cause ripple effects that will be far reaching - ripples that will only be exacerbated and intensified by the very financial markets that have let you down in the past…and that will let us down again.   

There is too much uncertainty here. No one really knows how the day after the Brexit will look like. But I cannot imagine that some of you think that you would be able to get full benefits of the single EU market even without being in the EU and by not allowing the free movement of people. Though your argument that EU will need the British market as much as the British need the EU market might be true, think for a second why would the EU members accept any proposal that will benefit the U.K more by staying out of the EU than in the EU?  Why would the EU volunteer itself for its disintegration? - because that is what will happen if the U.K. gets sweet deals after deciding to opt out of the EU. Every other member of the EU would then be tempted to ask for such sweet deals. So however economically punishing it might be, EU countries, especially Germany and France will have every motive to bear their economic pain in order to stop that temptation by causing economic pain to the U.K. Doesn’t matter how severe that pain is, but it will undoubtedly hurt. And when it hurts, who do you think it will hurt more? I am afraid it is not the elites. Nor is it the bankers. But the very working people of your country. That will have economic consequences that will send ripples across your shores – the ripples that will tear into the heart of the global financial system and can jeopardize any progress we have made since the financial crisis caused by the bankers and the financial engineers.   

In my humble opinion, considering how the world’s future is shaping out to be, the U.K. would be stronger in the EU than outside the EU. In a world where China is five times the size of your economy and India’s total output is almost the same as yours, size matters - the size of the nation; and the size of the market. For all its flaws, EU is still a formidable single market. It is the world’s largest free trade zone. It is a market which everyone wants a share of – China, India, the US and all other nations. It is a market which produces some of the best and brightest talent and technology. 

I want a German car; a French designer clothing; and may be a Nobel prize in Sweden :). But to even dream of success, I still would want to be able to access the London financial services. So please Britain, stay in the EU. As an English speaking country, we want you as the gateway into Europe and all that excellent opportunities that Europe provides. In this small planet, we are all in this together…and let us continue to be in this together. Let our theme be better integration and not disintegration. 

Sincerely,

A common citizen, a Commonwealth citizen, a global citizen.