LSE Business Review:
What kind of relationship with the EU is best for the UK economy post-Brexit?
5 August 2016
The UK should join the EEA and remain part of the single market, write Swati Dhingra and Thomas Sampson
The UK has voted to leave the EU, but not in favour of any specific alternative to EU membership. This poses a challenge for UK policy makers and the new Prime Minister Theresa May. What should the UK's relations with the EU be, following Brexit? It is naive to expect economic considerations will be the only factor that determines what relationship the UK eventually seeks with the EU, or what deal the EU is willing to grant the UK. If the UK government's objective were to obtain the highest possible standard of living for UK citizens it would never invoke Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon and start the Brexit process. But if Brexit must happen, it is useful to understand which option would do least harm to the UK economically. This option can then serve as a benchmark for evaluating the trade-offs required to obtain political objectives such as limits on immigration and 'taking back control'.
This article was published by the LSE Business Review on August 5, 2016
Link to article here
Related publications
Life after Brexit : What are the UK's options outside the European Union?, Swati Dhingra and Thomas Sampson, CEP Brexit Analysis Series Paper No.01, February 2016
The complete set of CEP Brexit Analysis papers is available in one publication. Download from here.
Brexit and Wage Inequality, Brian Bell and Stephen Machin, CEP Brexit Blog, July 2016
Related links
Swati Dhingra webpage
Thomas Sampson webpage
Trade Programme webpage