Britain Doesn't Trust The "Experts" On Brexit...

 

 
>> 9 out of 10 experts agree: Britain doesn’t trust the experts on Brexit...

>> When the country goes to the polls Thursday, voters will be asked a simple question: Should the country stay in the EU or get out?

>> But as much as anything, the vote is shaping up as a referendum on whether Britain still trusts the people who supposedly know the most about economics, international relations and global security. The vast majority of authorities in all three fields have said the country should stay in and that leaving could be disastrous.

>> Nonetheless, with only two days to go before the country votes, polls show a tie that could swing either way.

>> “What we’re seeing is a rise in the number of people who are dissatisfied, disapproving, distrusting of political institutions, political parties, the establishment, the media and, wrapped up with that, the experts. A certain proportion of people don’t believe a word of what they hear from those they consider part of the metropolitan elite.”

>> Britain is not the only country where that shift is underway. The rise in the United States of Donald Trump, a man not known for his fidelity to facts and who breezily dismisses expert opinion, exemplifies the trend on the other side of the Atlantic.

>> Since February, the pro-EU camp has trotted out endorsement upon endorsement from respected authorities both within Britain and beyond, including President Obama. None of it seems to have made a dent. That’s been exasperating for “remain” leaders.

>> Politicians advocating for “leave” have delighted in the country’s populist, anti-expert mood, and have fed it by dismissing the views of economists, scientists, military commanders, business leaders and others as part of an elitist conspiracy, or “an establishment stitch-up.”

>> Independent economic forecasting firms had counseled Britain to get into the common European currency, the euro, when it was first created in 1999. Britain stayed out, and most Brits are glad that it did.

>> Indeed, the performance of economic and political experts in recent years has hardly been inspiring. Most missed signs that the global financial system was headed for a crash in 2008. Weapons of mass destruction were never found in Iraq. Even the rise of Trump and the potential for Brexit were themselves ignored by most political cognoscenti for far too long.

>> Perhaps sensing that the reliance on experts isn’t cutting through, the “remain” campaign has begun to tout the opinions of celebrities and international footballers...

www.washingtonpost.com/europe/britain-doesnt-trust-the-brexit-experts