By almost every analysis, the stunning decision by the British public to leave the European Union reflected fears of lost sovereignty, dwindling economic opportunity and diminished security that resulted from U.K. membership in the EU. To be more precise, the vote signaled a rejection of globalization, free trade and open borders. Ironically, then, Brexit is the triumph of the very ideas that Britain has long cherished.
British economists provided the theoretical framework for the policies that dominate modern economics. Adam Smith is the originator of much of that theory. David Ricardo honed Smith's thinking by adding the notion of comparative advantage, arguing that if one country can produce a good more efficiently than a trading partner, then it should specialize in the production of that good, even if it isn't more efficient in absolute terms (i.e., even if the other country can make every good cheaper). This specialization yields the most efficient use of resources and maximizes benefits to both countries. This critical insight is the basis of much, if not most, international trade.
Equally, if not more, important was John Maynard Keynes, the 20th-century British economist who was one of the most influential thinkers of his era. Keynes was a revolutionary in many respects, challenging the prevailing orthodoxy, which argued that market forces would produce full employment. Instead, he insisted that governments had to actively intervene in markets to smooth out the inevitable cycles of boom and bust.