The economic case for Brexit is based on false, damagingly nationalistic presumptions and premises. Contrary to what Brexiteers suggest, there is no best way to maximise the economic benefits of leaving. Brexit is a ‘lose-lose’ proposition for Britain and the EU, when seen from any perspective, other than the rose-tinted one of reviving the UK’s much-vaunted (but illusory) genius for independent economic success through freer trade. [...]
Look below at the contrast between: (a) Britain’s record of economic performance from the 1950s up to 1973, when it was outside the EU; and (b) its record from 1974-2015 after it became a member. It failed miserably in the first period (apart from the blip of immediate post-war reconstruction) but performed remarkably well in the second. The difference is chalk and cheese.
In round figures, the British contribution to the EU budget is a net £10 billion out of total public expenditure of around £750 billion. That is less than 1.4% — or in the realm of errors and omissions. The UK government wastes more than that through mismanagement in several key departments every year. [...]
Brexiters claim that the UK is constrained by the EU’s ‘protectionism’. But the UK benefits from it by having privileged access to a market of over 460 million consumers, which is over US$18 trillion in size – larger than the US or China. Through the EU, the UK has workable and profitable trade arrangements with at least 60 other non-EU countries. They account for over 90% of world trade excluding the EU.
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