Why the Brits Chose Brexit and why it matters to Americans (and even New Mexicans!)

The Rio Grande Foundation truly believes in its mission of being a state think tank. After all, we have so many problems here in the Land of Enchantment that need solving, we don’t need to head off to Washington or around the world with everything that needs to be done here.

However, I believe strongly that 2016 is a “tipping point.” That’s why we are calling our radio show on “The Rock of Talk” by that name. The show airs every Saturday from noon to 1pm on AM 1600 and 95.9FM.

Nonetheless, Last night, voters in Great Britian chose to declare their independence from an overweening centralized government in Brussels. They voted to restore their sovereignty and independence. Hopefully, Britain retains its free trade-oriented philosophy and that it maintains close relationships with both Europe and the United States and that those ties are reciprocated and expanded upon. The last thing anyone needs is a trade-war or resentment to lead to bad policies.

What does this mean for New Mexico? It means that we too need to “declare our independence.” Not from the United States politically, but economically by developing our own private sector economy and becoming less reliant on Washington. Britain could choose to leave the EU in part because of its strong economy. New Mexico is more like Greece. We need to change that and, if that happens, I believe 2016 is going to be a “tipping point” for us as well.

If all of this “Brexit” talk has you befuddled, there is a great movie called “Brexit the Movie” which explains why many Brits wanted to leave the EU.