In the coming years, the United Kingdom's economy will continue to underperform relative to its pre-Brexit trajectory, as well as to its peers, but this is unlikely to compel any future U.K. governments to consider re-joining the European Union. For the first three decades in the aftermath of World War II, the U.K. economy was characterized by low economic growth, high government debt, stop-and-go macroeconomic policies and general underperformance compared to its Western European peers. The United Kingdom's reliance on the Commonwealth, along with its late joining of the European Community -- which, had it happened earlier, would have exposed U.K. industry to greater competition from other advanced economies and helped increase productivity -- were among the main factors contributing to the country's disappointing economic performance. While France and Germany were experiencing decades of rapid growth and economic development in the post-WWII period, the U.K. economy (and especially U.K. industry)...
