Brexit

What does Brexit mean ?

It is a word that is used as a shorthand way of saying the UK leaving the
EU - merging the words Britain and exit to get Brexit, in the same way
as a possible Greek exit from the euro was dubbed Grexit in the past.
Further reading: The rise of the word Brexit.

Why Britain left the European Union ?

A referendum - a vote in which everyone (or nearly everyone) of voting
age can take part - was held on Thursday 23 June, 2016, to decide
whether the UK should leave or remain in the European Union. Leave
won by 51.9% to 48.1%. The referendum turnout was 71.8%, with more
than 30 million people voting.

What are the economic effects of Brexit so far ?

The Brexit vote two years ago has damaged the UK economy, as a
weaker pound has squeezed household incomes and uncertainty has hit
investment. On that, economists from all sides agree — despite having
their differences over the extent of the damage and whether the harm
will intensify. On the two-year anniversary of the EU referendum,
forecasters’ estimates of how much Brexit has dragged down the
economy range from around 1 per cent of gross domestic product, or
£20bn a year, to 2 per cent, or £40bn a year. An FT average of several
models suggests that by the end of the first quarter of this year, the
economy was 1.2 per cent smaller than it would have been without the
Brexit vote. That represents a £24bn hit to the economy, amounting to a
“Brexit cost” of £450m a week or £870 a household per year.
Why Britain Voted for Brexit ?

In this section I will investigate forces that shaped the decisions voters
made in the 23 June 2016 referendum on the UK’s continued
membership in the European Union. Employing data gathered in a
national panel survey conducted before and after the referendum,
analyses document that economic- and immigration-focused benefit-cost
evaluations strongly influenced voters’ decisions. Risk assessments,
emotional reactions to EU membership and leader image heuristics were
other major proximate forces driving the choices voters made. National
identities were influential as well, but operated further back in the set of
forces affecting attitudes towards the EU. The June 23rd Brexit decision
thus reflected a diverse mix of calculations, emotions and cues. Given
the close division of the vote, it is plausible that a substantial change in
any of these factors could have changed the referendum outcome.

Preliminary list of used literature and other sources:

Financial Times;
The Guardian;
Independent;
BBC;
Oxford Academic (Parliamentary Affairs, Economy Policy);

Nenad Bukvic, Student number: 19209162