What's next for Brexit? | The Week
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Seven months after a divisive referendum, the U.K. will soon launch the process for leaving the European Union. Here's everything you need to know:
Not as badly as many predicted. Before the historic plebiscite on June 23, the "Remain" camp warned that Brexit would cause economic chaos: a deep recession, plummeting stock prices, and
skyrocketing unemployment. But most of those grim predictions — labeled "Project Fear" by those backing "Leave" — have yet to materialize. The United Kingdom's GDP grew 2 percent over the
year, the fastest of any G-7 nation; the London stock market, as measured by the FTSE 100, ended 2016 at a record high; and unemployment remained steady. The only economic bombshell was the
pound dropping by 18 percent against the dollar, from $1.48 to $1.20, before recovering slightly in January. "They told us we were doomed," says Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Conservative member of
Parliament who backed Leave. "They have been proved wrong." Yet many economists believe Brexit's true impact will become clear only once the negotiating process has begun.
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