The single market & competition policy
What does Theresa May's speech tell us about how Britain will leave the EU?
17 January 2017
Theresa May has decided on a hard Brexit, putting sovereignty ahead of economics. She thinks the negotiations will take only two years, but they will take longer.
Customs union membership is no way out of the Brexit trap
16 December 2016
Remaining in the customs union seems to be the least damaging way for Britain to ‘take back control’, but it is fraught with difficulties.
Brexit and the economics of populism
12 December 2016
Inequality, insecurity and a nativist backlash against immigration all help to explain the rise of populism. But globalisation does not prevent governments from addressing these problems.
Brussels prepares for a hard Brexit
21 November 2016
The EU institutions predict a painful divorce for the UK, because they see hard-line eurosceptics pushing Theresa May away from a soft Brexit.
Sterling slump won't rescue the British economy
21 October 2016
The 2008 devaluation did not prompt strong growth in British exports. The post-referendum fall in the pound is unlikely to do so either.
Can Britain join Norway in the EEA?
09 June 2016
Pro-EU MPs might try to force the UK to accept membership of the EEA – the ‘Norway option’ – if Britain votes to leave the EU. Charles Grant and John Springford debate whether this is likely.
Would an 'independent' Britain want to join the single market?
24 February 2016
Three economic rules mean that Britain would seek to join the EU's single market if it were not already a member.
Brexit and EU regulation: A bonfire of the vanities?
03 February 2016
EU rules are no straitjacket for the British economy, and repealing them would be damaging: divergent regulations between the EU and the UK would curb trade and investment.
Has the euro been a failure?
11 January 2016
The euro has not been a positive economic and political force. But keeping the single currency together could still be less risky than dismantling it.
Gain or more pain in Spain?
19 October 2015
Spain is no poster child for austerity and structural reforms. The recovery is less than it appears and the country faces some formidable challenges.
Issue 104 - 2015
25 September 2015
- Jeremy Corbyn and the rise of groupthink, John Springford
- Eastern mess: The EU's partners need attention, Ian Bond
- Will the eurozone reap what it has sown?, Simon Tilford
Will the eurozone reap what it has sown?
24 September 2015
The slowdown in emerging markets leaves the eurozone even more reliant on exports to the US and UK to compensate for its feeble domestic economy.
How to keep Greece in
27 July 2015
Unless the eurozone invests economically and politically in the future of Greece, the country's future in the single currency remains in doubt.
Could eurozone integration damage the single market?
27 July 2015
Britain fears that the eurozone could caucus and impose rules on the EU single market. So David Cameron is asking for safeguards to protect the market.
Issue 103 - 2015
27 July 2015
- How to keep Greece in, Christian Odendahl
- Could eurozone integration damage the single market?, Charles Grant
- Greek foreign policy: The next ruin?, Ian Bond, Rem Korteweg
Offline? How Europe can catch up with US technology
26 July 2015
The EU should not fret about the power of US internet giants. The take-up of digital technology across the services sector is more important than a 'European Google'.
The Greek bailout deal resolves nothing
13 July 2015
Even if the new bailout makes it through the Greek parliament in coming weeks, the programme's economic incoherence will make it fall apart.
Thomas Cromwell or the executioner's axe? Options for a Grexit
10 July 2015
EU lawyers are working to find a creative way to accommodate a Grexit if it becomes inevitable. None of the options are legally watertight or desirable.
The eurozone's 'five presidents' report': An assessment
22 June 2015
The long-awaited report rightly aims to complete a financial union in the eurozone, but over-emphasises structural reforms and underplays the need for stronger counter-cyclical policies.
Greece: After a deal, work on a solution
11 June 2015
A deal between Greece and its creditors is still likely but what the country really needs is a Greece-led, cross-party plan to transform its institutions.