Where did this start? In 1971 Prime Minister Edward Heath took Britain into the Common Market on the back of a demand led reflation. Up until that time the UK had a policy called Competition and Credit Control which restricted the use of hire purchase. To boost the economy, Heath withdrew the policy and unleashedRead more
An opinion piece by Dr T. Huw Edwards Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, has just waded into the Brexit debate, promising a trade deal with the UK is very close. This move is clearly intended to influence the debate in the UK against a close relationship with Brussels. But, if we were indeed toRead more
This Blog post, written by Dr Huw Edwards, was originally published in The Conversation “Over the past few months, we have been investigating how the vote of June 23 2016 has since affected the values and patterns of Britain’s trade with major trading partners inside and outside the European Union. By comparing trade flows withRead more
Professor Alistair Milne at the SBE has just written a new blog post for The UK in a Changing Europe, published today, about why the CBI are right in calling for an extended negotiation with the EU over Britain’s exit. He writes: “In a recent speech Carolyn Fairbairn and Rain Newton Smith of the ConfederationRead more
This Blog post was originally published on The UK in a Changing Europe website on 28th June 2017. The concessions from the UK side on the sequencing of the talks on the opening of negotiations on 19 June was hardly surprising given the developments relating to the UK election on June 8. Conducted in anRead more
The SBE’s Andrea Lagna has written an interesting post published in The Conversation recently about the affect of the EU Referendum result in June on Italian banking: “Brexit has triggered a financial chain reaction that has also exposed the problems of the Italian banking system. The UK’s decision to leave the EU made investors fearful thatRead more
This post was written by Dr Andrea Lagna and was originally published on the SPERI Blog. Modern public debt management and financial innovation have exacerbated Italy’s large, and growing, government debt. The use of financial derivatives by the Italian government continues to appear in the headlines of global news media. Based on Eurostat data, BloombergRead more
On June 23rd the British electorate will make one of the most momentous decisions to face the UK in several generations: whether or not to formally leave the EU (BREXIT). It will have momentous implications in several areas: the growth potential of the economy; trade relationships and volumes; foreign direct investment in the economy; theRead more
Viewing the Brexit debate from East Asia provides an interesting perspective into the international influence enjoyed by both the UK and the EU. From the perspective of China, Japan, and South Korea, both the UK and the EU remain an attractive market: the UK as one of the most liberalised economies in the world; andRead more
For people who want to read an article on UK, EU and Canadian trade that actually has some substance, I would strongly Simon Nixon’s piece in today’s Times. This explains clearly why a ‘Free Trade Area’ such as the old EFTA, or today’s NAFTA, is not synonymous with Free Trade. FTAs have no tariffs betweenRead more