Why ‘Brexit’ Will Make Britain’s Mediocre Economy Worse

THE NEW YORK TIMES: LONDON — An observer of Britain’s “Brexit” debate would be forgiven for thinking that the country’s economy is one of the European Union’s star performers. Brexit’s advocates rarely pass up an opportunity to claim that the European Union economy is the world’s weak link, and that Britain’s reformed, dynamic and flexible economy has little to risk, and much to gain, from leaving it. The reality is rather different. And Brexit threatens to make matters worse.

Britain’s economic performance relative to the other big economies in Western Europe — including France, Germany, Italy and Spain — does not stand out as impressive, at least once the different prices of goods and services across these countries are factored in. As the chart below shows, British economic growth between 2000 and 2015 lagged behind Spain and Germany. » | Simon Tilford | Monday, May 29, 2017