Brexit, Voice, and Loyalty

The US is appalled by the consequences of Britain’s flirtation. It wants to remain engaged with the entire world, not just some islands off the European coast. It is easier for the US to deal with Europe as a whole, especially when some European answers to common social dilemmas look as if they might provide solutions for America as well.

The outcome resembles a Shakespeare comedy of confused identity. Europe and Britain are married, but Britain wants to deepen its relationship with America, while America cares more about Europe.

Loyalty-enhancing mechanisms are not easy to establish. The best ones are positive, like rapid economic growth and rising prosperity, which underpinned the European dream in the past. Restoring them is unlikely, at least for now.

There can also be negative incentives to loyalty that induce everyone to keep up appropriate standards of behavior. The risk is that the comedy of misguided affection is resolved by punishing both the tempter and the tempted.

What is the modern equivalent of branding with a scarlet A, which was the penalty for adultery in colonial New England? Maybe the credit-ratings agencies have the answer.

Harold James, Professor of History and International Affairs at Princeton University and Professor of History at the European University Institute, Florence, is the author, most recently, of Making the European Monetary Union.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2013.

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