At last we are getting some concrete analysis to support the Leave campaign. This blog has complained a good deal about the lack of a plan. Eight respected economists have now come out in support, citing opinions and evidence which can be interpreted to support the notion of greater economic growth if we leave the EU. The core is that lower sterling values will stimulate growth and a simple a WTO type agreement with the EU would be enough, in an economy which was less focussed on Europe and more proactive in the world at large. It has the advantage that it is a plan which purports to offer a better future based on a new idea rather than a nostalgic look backwards, driven by fear of immigration.
There is much to be said for this. If we are going to leave Europe there is not much point in hanging about at the fringes; better to cherry pick the deals which suit us both in the EU and across the world, which is after all the reason for the Leave campaign. Questions will arise as to whether BMW might then pack up Rolls Royce cars and make them in Germany, likewise VW and Bentley and our Japanese owned car makers. Much would depend on the competitiveness of the new UK economy versus production based in the EU, the US China or Japan. But it is a direction of travel which makes sense, whether you support it or not. Hitherto there has been nothing tangible to support. There is a lot of work required to flesh this out but this is at least a start.
It will not affect the view of this blog which is pro EU, as readers know already, for the political reasons of the end of centuries of conflict and peace upon a continent ravaged by war over a thousand years. That big picture is fundamental. The economic consequences are a related issue which can be managed. Whether we stay or go.