ABSTRACT
This chapter estimates the widening of the British-EU trade imbalance, which resulted in the loss of a significant number of British manufacturing jobs over the three decades of membership. Britain's potential participation within Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is likely to create further problems for the domestic economy, as a more efficient monetary transmission mechanism will exacerbate common interest rate changes, taken by the European Central Bank (ECB) on an average-need basis. Having determined that the economic cost-benefit of past and continuing EU membership is likely to be negative, a number of alternative approaches are identified. Three decades after Britain joined the EU, there is a wealth of evidence that should prompt a re-evaluation of the relationship, and there are a large number of alternatives that need to be carefully considered. The monetarist neo-liberal nature of the institutional framework established to sustain EMU is likely to dampen economic development in favour of financial orthodoxy.
