Did the experts get it wrong on Brexit?

Most economists are so personally committed to staying in the EU that they disregard all the facts and forecast disaster if we leave, says Matthew Lynn.

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Most economists are so personally committed to staying in the EU that they forecast disaster if we leave

Ever since the UK voted to leave the EU, economists have been busily downgrading their forecasts of growth for the year ahead. No one was expecting a fantastic year to start with, but now the consensus is for a recession in the region of 1% of GDP. Goldman Sachs, for example, expects a contraction of up to 1.8% of GDP. Barclays expects negative growth in the third and fourth quarters of this year. Credit Suisse is forecasting a contraction in the region of 1%.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.