These are: whether the UK economy has achieved sustainable convergence with the economies of the single currency; whether there is sufficient flexibility in the UK economy to adapt to change and other unexpected economic events; whether joining the single currency would create better conditions for businesses to make long-term decisions to invest in the UK; the impact membership would have on the UK financial services industry; and ultimately whether joining the single currency would be good for employment. It would then submit a favourable decision to Parliament, and the British people in a referendum. The Chancellor recognised that it was unrealistic to think that a decision could be reached during the lifetime of the present Parliament, which runs to May 2002 at the latest. But he stressed that in the meantime the UK should nevertheless prepare - not only for introduction of the euro on the Continent on 1 January 1999 - which we of course did very effectively - but also for our own eventual participation. The Chancellor’s statement was the first by a British Government to accept the principle of monetary union. It recognised that the single currency will affect us whether we are in fact in or out - and that it is clearly in our own national interest to do all that we can to ensure that the euro is successful.
That comes about through a range of channels. For example, greater competition encourages UK firms to operate more efficiently. Access to larger export markets enables them to take more advantage of economies of scale. And the ability to trade allows the UK to specialise in sectors where it has a competitive advantage. To the extent that leaving the single market or the customs union makes it harder to do business with the EU, that will reduce the economy’s productive capacity. (Equally if leaving the EU allows the other economies to trade with and invest more openly in the UK then these same channels are likely to support UK productivity). We don’t know whether these long-run channels are already in operation. But it is possible that they have been contributing to reinforce the continued weakness of productivity growth. 6  In the short run what we do know is that uncertainty about the eventual outcome of the Brexit negotiations, and perhaps the expectation that Brexit will lower economic growth over time, has been depressing business investment. Businesses are waiting for more clarity before embarking on new capital projects, and that reduces their productive capacity relative to what it could have been, as well as hampering resource re-allocation across the economy. We see this most clearly in business surveys. Brexit has consistently ranked at or near the top of the list of 7  the risks identified in the Deloitte survey of Chief Financial Officers.