Economics

Wetherspoon Head Schools Goldman in Brexit Economics

  • Tim Martin says business has seen uplift since EU vote
  • Corrects story to remove David Ross, who didn’t back Brexit

JD Wetherspoon Chairman Tim Martin and Boris Johnson, former mayor of London.

Photographer: Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley don’t understand economics. Nor do the Bank of England or the U.K. Treasury. At least according to Tim Martin, the pro-Brexit founder of British pub chain JD Wetherspoon Plc.

Martin, a vocal supporter of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, said individuals and institutions also including the Confederation of British Industry, the International Monetary Fund and outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron were practicing “irresponsible doom-mongering” in warning that a vote for Brexit would negatively impact the U.K. economy. The pub chain’s performance has improved since the vote, he said.