Economists for Free Trade, previously (before the referendum on Brexit) called Economists for Brexit, is a lobbying group that promoted a

no-deal Brexit A no-deal Brexit (also called clean break BrexitBBC. (2019)''Brexit: Jargon-busting guide to the key terms'' (BBC) Retrieved 29 March 2019.) was the potential withdrawal of the UK from the European Union (EU) without a withdrawa ...

, which is the situation where the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

leaves the European Union without a corresponding withdrawal agreement treaty. They believe the UK is better off trading on the terms of the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and ...

rather than within the single market and

customs union A customs union is generally defined as a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff.GATTArticle 24 s. 8 (a) Customs unions are established through trade pacts where the participant countries set up ...

. Economists for Free Trade is one of few organisations predicting a positive economic impact of a no-deal Brexit. Led by Professor Patrick Minford, the group maintained close ties to pro-Brexit Conservative MPs. Its website was discontinued during 2021, but its advisory board was said to include

Jacob Rees-Mogg Jacob William Rees-Mogg (born 24 May 1969) is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Somerset since 2010. Now a backbencher, he served as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council f ...

Owen Paterson Owen William Paterson (born 24 June 1956) is a British former politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2010 to 2012 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2012 to 2014 under Prime Minist ...

Matt Ridley Matthew White Ridley, 5th Viscount Ridley, (born 7 February 1958), is a British science writer, journalist and businessman. He is known for his writings on science, the environment, and economics and has been a regular contributor to ''Th ...

and David Jones.

Criticism of Patrick Minford’s Economic Model

A critique by the Centre for Economic Performance, a politically independent research centre at the London School of Economics, highlighted the flaws of Minford's economic model for a no-deal Brexit.Cep.lse.ac.uk. 2016. nlineAvailable at: <http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/brexit06.pdf> ccessed 20 October 2020/ref> Their analysis puts into question Minford's figure for economic welfare in the UK to increase by 4% after Brexit and instead predict a 2.3% loss of welfare from Minford's 'Britain Alone' policy. According to the CEP, Minford overlooks the loss in services trade that would result from leaving the Single Market, such as 'passporting' privileges in financial services. Furthermore, Minford's assumption that goods prices would fall by 10% comes from attributing all producer price differences between the EU and low-cost countries to EU trade barriers, ignoring differences in quality. Minford's approach of ignoring empirical analysis of trade data seems predicated on the view that because statistical analysis is imperfect, it should all be completely ignored. But such statistical biases may reinforce rather than weaken the case for remaining in the EU.

References

External links

Economists for Free Trade - Who we are

Powerbase: Economists for Free Trade
{{authority control Brexit–related advocacy groups in the United Kingdom Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom Political and economic think tanks based in the United Kingdom

Criticism of Patrick Minford’s Economic Model

See also

References

External links