Boris Johnson Claims a Positive in Britain’s Shortages. Economists Disagree.
The New York Times
Wages in some industries are rising because employers can’t find enough workers. That’s not a path to long-term growth, analysts say.
In a country bedeviled by acute shortages of goods and workers, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is portraying the chaos as a source of national revival.
Gas stations in Britain have recently had no gas and grocery items are sparse in part because of difficulties in delivering such goods. That is in part due to Britain’s abandonment of the European Union — a reordering championed eagerly by Mr. Johnson. Brexit has dissuaded Eastern European immigrants from coming to work as truck drivers, while new customs procedures at ports has snarled trade.
Yet far from bemoaning such troubles, Mr. Johnson is celebrating them as the tough parts of a critically needed economic restoration. In his telling, Brexit has delivered a benefit that Britain has lacked for more than a decade: rising wages.
