London — The Bank of England’s chief economist has just admitted what everyone else in Europe already suspects — Brexit might not be so easy after all. Andy Haldane conceded that the base expectation in its latest forecasts — that the UK will avoid the so-called cliff edge in which it leaves the EU without a trade deal or transitional period, on which the central bank formed its May forecasts — may not be the case. "Underlying these Brexit effects is an assumption that the process is a smooth and orderly one. This is a strong assumption," Haldane said in the speech delivered in Bradford, UK on Tuesday. "There could be a ‘Brexit break’ in the economy." In a speech published by the bank on Wednesday, he said a more disruptive divorce "could prompt a discontinuous response by consumers and companies" such as building precautionary savings, that could have a significant and adverse affect on growth. Based on the assumption that Brexit talks would not go awry, the Bank in May raised its ...
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