There is always a sense of “they would say that, wouldn’t they?” when a state-funded global agency that promotes free trade says that a hard Brexit would be bad for everyone. That was the International Monetary Fund’s stance before Britain’s referendum on European Union membership, and in the wake of the vote the Washington-based lender of last resort to near-bankrupt countries (most recently Argentina) has, unsurprisingly, stuck to its line. Last week, IMF analysts said that the EU could lose as much as 1.5% of gross domestic product from a “no-deal” Brexit while the UK would suffer an even bigger hit – a 4% loss of ... (full story)