Saturday 30 January 2016

A world of possibilities awaits us


I suppose very few have been keeping up with all the themes I've been exploring on the blog just recently - and though it is becoming a tad technical at this point, it really does show what a shrivelling irrelevance the EU is in building a global single market - and when you really start digging into the real drivers of economic and regulatory convergence, nobody is talking about the EU. It is yesterdays news.

Today's earlier article uncovered some issues worthy of greater study not least the new eTIR system from UNECE, and the drive for trade facilitation and harmonisarion of systems at ports. Much of this will be driven by the IMO Facilitation Committee (FAL) working to remove unnecessary formalities and “red tape” in international shipping.

The Committee ensures that the right balance is struck between maritime security and the facilitation of international maritime trade. This committee also implements all aspects of the Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic 1965. New Zealand can make a submission on any item in the next Session’s agenda. We can't. We're in the EU. That's why we must leave.

I am told by many that I am over-intellectualising Brexit arguments, making it impossible for "normal people" to follow. However, these people are wrong. This is absolutely central to a major revolution in global trade and the primary reason to leave the EU and join something bigger and more exciting.

Moreover, the most technical posts on the blog just recently have been the ones most happily received on Twitter, yielding some of the best hits to date - which tells me there is a real appetite for news and analysis with depth that the media simply doesn't offer. This challenges quite a few assumptions made by the mainstream press.

What I will say is that if you haven't been following the work, then it really is your loss because you're missing out on a whole other world of news that reaches well into the future, unlike Westminster which is scratching around in the 1980's for ideas and articles for debate. Really, if you think this stuff is boring, YOU are boring.

What this all shows, in a very hippy sense, is that the world is literally coming together, pulling in the same direction to achieve great things, ripping down barriers, sharing ideas and developing the technology and systems of tomorrow. We are opening up the world to new goods and services, opening up new destinations and possibilities.

In this, it's standards and regulatory systems that make it all possible through a massive system of multilateral cooperation barely even acknowledged by our lame duck politicians. Just being aware of it and following it makes you part of it. It's so much bigger and more extensive than I ever imagined. In any case, whether you find it boring or not, I will keep grinding this axe, not least because it's fascinating. It all started with a metal box - the humble container - and now look where we are going.

As ever, thank you to all the readers who have kept up with it and thanks for all the likes and shares. Every time you share the blog my audience grows, and maybe if I can push these concepts into the mainstream debate, maybe we can have some politics of substance and consequence. There is nothing that says we have to swallow the crap we are fed by our media.

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