[gonvaled]

They are not doomed: the argument is that they would be better off in the EU. And that Britain would be worse off outside. Not that it would be a poor country; it would still be one of the richest countries on Earth. Just a bit poorer.

That is the theory; we'll see what happens.

[pandama]

No we won't. We can't see both sides of the comparison in this ethereal plane.

[gonvaled]

That applies to each and every decission. If we accept this argument, policy discussions are meaningless.

Let's be less theoretical: if Britain does much better than the EU it could be due to:

1) EU was bad for UK

2) The UK is abusing its new position (tax heaven, ...)

3) ??

If the UK does much worse than EU, this means:

1) EU was good for UK

2) EU is bullying UK

3) ??

So we'll be able to see what is happening.