Beyond the territorial politics, Brexit has brought to the boil a long simmering tension between the UK's economic and political imperatives. The importance to the UK economy of the single European market in goods and services is clear. Economists do not agree about much, so the extent of their unanimity about the benefits of free trade is striking.
The LSE's Centre for Economic Performance is typical, calculating that loss of the benefits of comparative advantage and competitive pressures via the single market have a direct cost amounting to 1.37 per cent to 2.92 per cent of UK living standards. Less trade means lower productivity, and weak productivity growth has been the UK's great macro weakness for half a century (the much reviled French economy's productivity is 30 per cent higher).
This article was published online by Money Marketing on August 15, 2016
Link to article here
Related publications
The complete series of Brexit Papers are available online here
Related links
Swati Dhingra webpage
Gianmarco Ottaviano webpage
Thomas Sampson webpage
John Van Reenen webpage
Trade Programme webpage
Growth Programme webpage
Read more... Money Marketing