The UK economy has held up surprisingly well since the Brexit referendum back in June, leading many of the pro-Leave side to start crowing "I told you so". But wait....
Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond, unveiling his Autumn Statement (i.e. mini-budget) this week, revealed that economic weakness and uncertainty caused by the Brexit vote will boost government borrowing by more than 120 billion pounds in the years ahead. Plans to eliminate the budget deficit -- which previous Chancellor George Osborne originally promised to have got rid of by now -- have gone by the wayside.
Now the Institute for Fiscal Studies is warning that the squeeze on real wages triggered by Brexit will be the worst the UK has seen since the aftermath of World War II. A lot of the older folks who voted Leave seemed to be hankering after an idealized vision of what Britain was like in their youth. Looks like they're going to get it. It may not be quite as idyllic as they remember it.
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