In European version of hell, Britain may switch to manufacturing

By George ILIEV
Brexit Metaphor No 129 

There is a joke about the European versions of heaven and hell. 

In the European version of heaven:
a) the British are the police;
b) the French are the cooks;
c) the Germans are the mechanics;
d) the Italians are the lovers;
e) and the Swiss make everything run on time.

In the European version of hell:
a) the British are the cooks;
b) the French are the mechanics;
c) the Germans are the police;
d) the Swiss are the lovers;
e) and the Italians make everything run on time.

Britain, France and Germany take each other's place in the heaven-and-hell merry-go-round / musical chairs (police, cooks and mechanics). But might Brexit actually disturb the existing fine balance in national specialisations: 
a) services in the UK; 
b) lifestyle and luxury goods in France; 
c) manufacturing for Germany?

If Britain's dominant services inudstry (financial, professional services, etc.) suffers as a result of Brexit, would Britain then be able to start focusing more on manufacturing? And what repercussions might this have on the competitiveness of the German manufacturing exports model?

Fresco of hell (Source: Wikipedia)

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Notes:
1. Timeline: This article is part of a series of original #BrexitMetaphors published daily. A total of 129 have been posted so far and another 32 Brexit Metaphors will be published every day until the planned Brexit date of March 29, 2019.
2. Disclosure: The author has a master's degree in European Integration. He also thinks he knows a bit about business, economics, entrepreneurship, China, history, geography, nature, science and Rubik Cubes.
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