Inside Asian Gaming

JANUARY 2018 INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 41 “Imagine the many British expatriates living and working abroad in Europe who may have to master their host nation’s language to remain there in a post-Brexit scenario.” for independence – not surprising since the Scottish Home Rule Association has been around since 1894 working on achieving Scottish home rule within the UK. Further southeast, the Catalonia autonomous region in Spain happens to be Spain’s most economically productive region, hosting over 7,000 foreign companies. A potential withdrawal from Spain by these companies could kick-start a recession across the country that could even spread across the Eurozone very quickly. The future is most uncertain in Catalonia as demonstrations are rapidly growing in size in its capital city of Barcelona by Catalans keen to achieve independence from Spain. Given the popularity and economic riches of the region, a departure from Spain could prove disastrous for the country and has the potential to cause instability not only in policies but in finance also. Nonetheless, more than 700 mayors of around 940 in Catalonia say they support a referendum whether legal or not. The dissatisfaction that has shrouded recent events might have been fueled by a long recession and a property bubble that has proved to be stubborn given that the economy has mostly been lifeless since 2009. Prolonged austerity measures have been further compounded by overreaching concerns such as claims of over-taxation, use of the Catalan language and perceived lack of respect for the Catalan people and culture. KEEN OBSERVATIONS Throw into the mix the recent memory of unemployment levels close to 25% and a double dip recession that caused reduced services in both healthcare and education, meaning it hurt not only the pocketbook but was a blow to the heart as well. It begs one key question though – like a dog chasing a car down a dusty road, what would the dog do next if it actually caught the