Though storm clouds have been gathering over most major economies, the United Kingdom has been lagging its peers for years, owing to Brexit and successive governments’ failure to address weak productivity and widening inter-regional inequalities. The country desperately needs a bolder policy agenda.
LONDON – A friend recently forwarded me an email from a client who was bemoaning the state of the United Kingdom and questioning whether it still met the standards of a G7 country. In response, I joked that since the population chose to leave the European Union, the country has been in the dismal position his client described, but maybe it cannot get much worse from here. A contrarian might want to buy the pound on the grounds that the mood will improve as things become marginally less disappointing.
In fact, gallows humor aside, it would be a risky bet, because there is ample evidence to suggest that the country will be very challenged unless there are bolder policies. The reasons fall into three broad, interrelated categories, starting with Brexit.
Britain has been paralyzed in many ways both by the decision to leave the EU and by the way it was done. Mainstream politicians and the current government are too scared to admit that Brexit has significantly harmed the economy. Nor will they even discuss the possibility of mimicking membership in the EU’s single market through the alignment of regulatory and trade policies.
LONDON – A friend recently forwarded me an email from a client who was bemoaning the state of the United Kingdom and questioning whether it still met the standards of a G7 country. In response, I joked that since the population chose to leave the European Union, the country has been in the dismal position his client described, but maybe it cannot get much worse from here. A contrarian might want to buy the pound on the grounds that the mood will improve as things become marginally less disappointing.
In fact, gallows humor aside, it would be a risky bet, because there is ample evidence to suggest that the country will be very challenged unless there are bolder policies. The reasons fall into three broad, interrelated categories, starting with Brexit.
Britain has been paralyzed in many ways both by the decision to leave the EU and by the way it was done. Mainstream politicians and the current government are too scared to admit that Brexit has significantly harmed the economy. Nor will they even discuss the possibility of mimicking membership in the EU’s single market through the alignment of regulatory and trade policies.