Boris Johnson's government recently came under fire because they refused to even finish studying -- much less publish -- what the economic impact of joining the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) would be before applying to join the trade bloc.
That seemed less than ideal, but Johnson's government isn't even going to publish the impact of the Brexit deal that is already in place.
The U.K. government won’t publish an impact assessment of its trade accord with the European Union despite producing similar reviews of other major trade deals it has signed.
“We’ve set out the detail of the deal, and the opportunities and benefits it provides the U.K.,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman Jamie Davies said on a call with reporters on Tuesday, when repeatedly asked if the government would publish a formal assessment. “We’ve been clear it’s a good deal, which allows us to maintain access to the EU market.”
In other words, the British public is suppose to take the government's word for it even if previous studies have shown that leaving the European Union will reduce the United Kingdom's GDP by 4 percent.
By refusing to publish what they expect the impact will be now, the public will have to wait until future quarters and the end of the fiscal year to see the political bomb drop.
I'd like to take a moment to appreciate the non-partisan and timely work of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that regularly tells us what the economic impact of fiscal policy will look like. Their estimates are not always exact, but they're in the same ballpark.