It boils down to two things.

1. Norway and Switzerland are just fine because of their internal culture and politics, which is very different to the UK.

When Norway discovered its North Sea oil, it nationalised its oil resources, and set up rules on how the surplus from the oil resource can be invested or spent for the public good. It is rich today primarily because of this. The UK privatised its oil resources, so while some got very rich from it, it’s difficult to estimate how much of it actually trickled down to the common people.

On a per capita basis, Switzerland is the most industrial country in the world. In my Swiss apartment I can find everything from rubbish bins, toilet seats, to fridges and dish washers that were made in Switzerland. The local business model for manufacturing has often been “make one thing, get good at it, and make it for one hundred years”. The same cannot be said for the UK, which has been largely de-industrialised since the 1980s.

2. Staying single is not the same as getting a divorce.

The UK has been a part of the EU since the 1970s. Similar to a marriage, where two parties live together, get used to each other’s presence, boundaries, and idiosyncrasies, the EU defined a lot of rules of engagement between UK and other EU countries. To break away from this relationship is not the same as never joined this relationship in the first place. New rules needs to be set up for every previous relation that was taken for granted. For the UK to go on as business as normal with EU after Brexit is akin to a couple living together after a divorce. While it can be done, I know many would rather not have this arrangement.

Norway and Switzerland on the other hand, have never entered into this relationship. So they are not going to go through this phase of separation and renegotiation.

For the Brexit to truly work, in the economic sense, the EU would need to disintegrate. This is what many of the “leave” campaigners were counting on, in the words of UKIP’s Nigel Farage:

“… a collection of sovereign nations living together, trading together….”

However, the likelihood of this EU disintegration is dependent on the rest of the EU member states.

My humble Opinion though.

Slenderdude