Category: Trade policy

Four reasons to resist the siren calls for a new ‘customs union’

The Liberal Democrats have long argued in favour of some new form of ‘customs union’ between the UK and the EU. But it now appears that key figures in the Labour administration are swinging behind the idea as well, including the Prime Minister’s chief economic adviser Minouche Shafik and Treasury minister Torsten Bell. These two … Continue reading Four reasons to resist the siren calls for a new ‘customs union’ →

What the NBER got wrong on the ‘Economic Impact of Brexit’

I’ve finally found time to review the NBER Working Paper which claims that Brexit has reduced UK GDP by as much as 8% since the vote to leave in 2016. As Martin Wolf writes in today’s Financial Times, “if this is even roughly correct, Brexit has been nothing short of an economic disaster”. But I think … Continue reading What the NBER got wrong on the ‘Economic Impact of Brexit’ →

The ‘Brexit blame game’ is pretty desperate stuff

Rachel Reeves is getting her excuses in early ahead of next month’s Budget, which looks set to be a painful repeat of last October’s “one off”. The Chancellor has already blamed “external headwinds”, “Tory austerity” and “the ongoing impact of Liz Truss’s mini-Budget”. It is no surprise that she has now dropped the “B-word” too. … Continue reading The ‘Brexit blame game’ is pretty desperate stuff →