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Brexit or Fixit? The trade and welfare effects of leaving the European union

Ottaviano, G.I.P., Pessoa, João Paulo, Sampson, Thomas ORCID: 0009-0006-2237-5497 and Van Reenen, John ORCID: 0000-0001-9153-2907 (2014) Brexit or Fixit? The trade and welfare effects of leaving the European union. CEP Policy Analysis (CEPPA016). The London School of Economics and Political Science, Center of Economic Performance, London, UK.

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Abstract

Since a speech by the Prime Minister in January 2013 , the Conservative party has been committed to holding a referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union (EU) in 2017. So this is a good moment to consider what would be the likely economic effects on the UK from such a move (commonly called ‘Brexit’).Eurosceptics emphasise greater national sovereignty from Brexit while Europhiles tend to focus on the importance of ever greater unity to reduce the risks of the political conflicts that ravaged Europe in the first half of the twentieth century. These are important matters, but this analysis focuses on the more mundane (but quantifiable) economic issues, especially trade. The costs and benefits of the UK leaving the EU are complex. Losses due to trade alone could be very substantial. Even under very optimistic assumptions, the sum of the static and dynamic trade losses would be almost 2.2% of GDP. More pessimistic calculations would lead to a long-term loss of almost a tenth of national income. The dream of splendid isolation may turn out to be a very costly one indeed.

Item Type: Monograph (Report)
Official URL: http://cep.lse.ac.uk/
Additional Information: © 2014 The Authors
Divisions: Economics
Centre for Economic Performance
Subjects: D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D901 Europe (General)
H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
Date Deposited: 17 Jul 2014 09:32
Last Modified: 01 Oct 2024 03:23
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/57958

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