There’s No Brexit Dividend, Nobody Cares

Each side of the U.K.'s 2016 Brexit debate peddled an economic narrative. Remainers warned of big economic costs from leaving the European Union. Leavers promised Brexit dividends: budget savings to be spent on the National Health Service, freedom from red tape, "frictionless" EU trade and a host of new trade deals that would be a boon to exporters.

These days, it's becoming clear which side was selling snake oil. And yet, those who sold the Brexit-dividend narrative are doubling down on that bet. Those who assumed that economic reality would force Brexiters to retreat from their demands of a harsh break with the EU have been mistaken.

Evidence of economic pain has been steadily piling up. Growth has slowed dramatically, wages are stagnant and households are not spending near what they would have been expected to spend had the Brexit referendum failed two years ago.

A boon for the U.K. economy? European companies are cutting investments in the U.K. A recent survey from UBS of 600 firms suggests that 35 percent of companies plan to reduce their investment in the country after it leaves the EU; 41 percent plan to move a large amount of capacity out of the U.K. entirely and 42 percent plan to shift that to the euro zone.