The implications of Brexit has been a popular topic of debate with negotiations currently underway. There are two possible approaches to Brexit commonly discussed: a soft Brexit versus a hard Brexit. The key difference between these two possible outcomes is whether or not the UK will remain a member of the EU’s single market. After separating from the EU, the most economically beneficial route would be that the UK joins the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and European Economic Area (EEA), thus remaining a member of the single market, similar to Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. However, there are several potential barriers for this option to be successful, which makes free movement of goods, services, people, and capital between the UK and the EU difficult post-Brexit. Given Theresa May’s stance on the negotiations, a hard Brexit and trade with the EU under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules should not be ignored as an outcome, and it would come with several consequences for the UK. Two features of this relationship would mean no or restricted free movement of people between the UK and the EU, as well as loss of tariff-free trade with the EU. Perhaps the most detrimental part of leaving the single market is that the UK would no longer benefit from the free movement of people between it and the EU. While many believe this will solve immigration issues in the UK that spurred much of the fight to leave the EU in the first place, businesses and the economy in the UK
