Britain Can't Afford to Quit the EU

If it votes to leave the European Union in next month’s referendum, Britain will bear a substantial and lasting economic cost: That’s the conclusion of several authoritative new studies. Campaigners for exit must either refute these findings or say why they don’t matter. Their efforts up to now have fallen far short.

The Vote Leave campaign has cast the referendum mainly as a decision about sovereignty, democracy and immigration -- legitimate concerns. But the economic consequences can’t be waved aside. The latest official study, from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development follows assessments by the IMF, the U.K. Treasury and others. They all say much the same: leaving the EU would hit trade, weaken Britain’s vital finance industry and reduce inward foreign investment. There’d likely be knock-on effects as well: less innovation and slower growth in productivity.