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’
Tag: trade
What to make of Trump’s tariffs
In case of wider interest, here’s a link to the slides from a presentation on Trump’s tariffs which I gave today to teachers of A-level economics (hosted by the IEA)… What to make of Trump's tariffs (Nov 2025)Download
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’
US-EU trade ‘deal’ avoids an even worse outcome, but this is still little to cheer
Brexiteers can be forgiven for indulging in a little ‘schadenfreude’ at the news that the EU has agreed the principles of a trade deal with the US on worse terms than the UK was able to achieve. Nonetheless, there are very few winners here. For a start, a final agreement is still some way off. … Continue reading US-EU trade ‘deal’ avoids an even worse outcome, but this is still little to cheer
