Economists, not the economy, are the only ones taking a battering from Brexit

There are queues outside the money exchanges as we desperately try and swap our worthless pounds for euros. The Red Cross are flying in food parcels. The IMF is arranging an emergency aid package, whilst house prices are in freefall and interest rates are soaring. If you cast your mind back only a few weeks, that was meant to be an accurate description of the British economy by now if we were crazy enough to vote to leave the European Union. That, however, is not how it has worked out. In fact, the economy is fine. It is the economists who are taking a beating.

This week, we have had the first hard data after the referendum. And it has all been surprisingly good. On Tuesday, we learned that inflation had nudged up a tiny bit, but was still way below the Bank of England’s target. Yesterday, we found out the economy was still creating jobs in record numbers.