Britain’s Free-Trade Brexit Challenge—Find 7 Americas

(Bloomberg) -- According to the U.K. government, there’s a pot of gold at the end of the Brexit rainbow marked “trade deals,” but analysis by Bloomberg Economics suggests the benefits of a deal with the U.S. would be dwarfed by the cost of leaving the European Union. The BE gravity model indicates that being a member of the EU’s single market is twice as effective at boosting trade compared with free trade agreements. A U.S. trade deal would offset just a seventh of the cost of leaving the bloc, while an agreement with the EU would cover just over half the cost.

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