First published: Infacts, 17/11/2017
Economists for Free Trade (EfFT), a small pro-Brexit group, claimed earlier this year and again this month to the Pavlovian joy of the Brexit-leaning media, that leaving the single market and the customs union would deliver a boost to the UK economy of around 7% of GDP, worth about £135 billion per annum. Here is why the claim is misleading, and why those propagating it are the carpetbaggers of Brexit.
The term “carpetbagger”, originally used by Southerners in the US against Northerners in the aftermath of the Civil War, was used pejoratively to denote the latter’s opportunism and manipulation. The idea that leaving the EU will be a magic bullet for the UK fits this kind of narrative well….Read more:
Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash
