Brexit - A Critical Audit in the Cold Light of Day

by Iain Begg

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Author

Iain Begg

LSE IDEAS

On both sides of the English Channel, the effects of the post-TCA trade regime include higher costs of trading and delays attributable to regulatory burdens, leading to reduced trade, and disruption of supply chains causing higher costs and shortages of inputs. In addition, there are legal uncertainties resulting from the various gaps in the TCA and other agreements.
For many households and individuals, on both sides, Brexit was both disruptive and a source of lingering uncertainty...A full inventory of winners and losers cannot easily be put together, but in qualitative terms some clear divisions can be enumerated.

Brexit has been a decade-long process rather than discrete events, and has had enduring effects on the United Kingdom’s economy and society, as well as affecting former partners in the European Union. While there is a broad consensus that the macroeconomic impact has been damaging to both sides, the incidence of Brexit on households, social groups and different economic sectors has been uneven. Overall, it has affected the UK more than the EU.

This research report from the LSE IDEAS Europe Initiative and authored by Iain Begg is supported by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom. It distinguishes and critically analyses three broad categories – economic, social, and governance – of Brexit’s impact on the UK and EU. It examines the uneven effects on various economic sectors and groups, paying particular attention to how different categories of households are affected.

About the Author:

Iain Begg is a Professorial Research Fellow at the European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science. His main research work is on the political economy of European integration and EU economic governance. He has directed and participated in a series of research projects on different facets of EU policy and was a Senior Fellow on the UK in a Changing Europe initiative. His recent work has focused on the future of the EU’s finances and on the recasting of fiscal frameworks in the UK and at European level. He has served as an expert witness or specialist adviser on EU issues for the House of Commons Treasury Committee, the House of Lords European Communities Committee and the European Parliament. He is a frequent contributor to international conferences on EU economic policy issues and is regularly solicited for interviews by journalists.

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Brexit - A Critical Audit