Seth Barrett Tillman and Professor Ilya Somin, George Mason University, had a debate in The Washington Post in regard to the net benefit and costs of Brexit for the UK and others.
Somin believed that ‘ignorance, illogic, and prejudice’ were likely to have ‘played a significant role in the Brexit vote’ and that continued EU participation by the UK would remain a ‘net’ benefit. Somin also emphasised that immigration policy should not ‘ignor[e] the freedom and interests of potential immigrants themselves’.
Tillman emphasised that efforts at EU reform have been stymied, and continued participation in an unreformed EU carries substantial risks—risks to democratic institutions, and risks involving the downside of poorly chosen regulatory, banking, and monetary policies imposed EU-wide by EU policy makers. Finally, Tillman noted that ignorance is not something unique to voters, but is a condition which also affects policy makers. Tillman emphasised that, in our post-Cologne world, it is hardly clear that EU policy-makers have access to accurate facts and statistics in regard to the consequences of common EU policies relating to immigration, asylum, border control, human trafficking, etc.
Ilya Somin, More on Brexit, libertarianism, and the European Union [updated with a response to Seth Barrett Tillman], The Washington Post—The Volokh Conspiracy (14 July 2016).
Seth Barrett Tillman is a Lecturer in Law at Maynooth University Department of Law where he lectures in Equity and Trusts and in Introduction to the American Legal System at undergraduate level.