Thank God we didn't adopt the failing Euro.
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Thank God we didn't adopt the failing Euro.
Actually, I don't think it was God, The Campaign for an Independent Britain (formed in 1969) led the campaign against the Euro with our links to the trade union movement, the Labour and Conservative Parties and other Eurosceptic groups such as the Bruges Group, Freedom Association and so on.
What is of greatest concern just now is that the politicians who gave away our freedoms by passing the European Communities Act in 1972 with a majority in the House of a mere 17 votes and have taken no interest whatever since then in the power that the EU has held over us ever since suddenly think they are all experts in the matter. The degree of ignorance that some show is appalling.
And we need no reminding the pound is one of the worlds worst performing currencies since the EU referendum.
Before the referendum 1 Euro cost £1.31, it now costs £1.13.
Against the Euro, for every £10 we used to have, we now have £8.63.
For every £10 we used to spend on imports, we now have to spend £11.59.
This means imports are much more expensive. It means exports are cheaper. Cheap exports is good if you are a manufacturing economy, but we aren't any more and never will be again, the world has changed too much.
As a direct consequence we are seeing growing inflation. In the 12 months following Brexit only the Turkish lira performed worse than the pound of the world's widely traded currencies.
Goods are becoming more expensive, most noticeably foreign holidays, and the standard of living is falling.
The positive news is that this isn't really a problem of the pound. All fiat (government issued) currencies suffer the same problems, governments struggle to master their economic levers and keep things stable with inflation in check, we get these boom and bust cycles. In ******* the world has an alternative now, and quite concievably in the next 20 years all the worlds major currencies will fade to insignificance or even collapse completely, going the way of the film camera and fax machine.
Excellent summary John 2. Unfortunately logic and facts won't influence our Little Englanders.
Agree totally with John.
Just to add to the comment of effect (to the obvious one of inflation that has a cost to every UK citizen).
All UK companies that import has seen a huge rise in costs and taken a big hit on bottom line profit. This is something that won't be seen in national stats.
The loss is in the period between the drop in the pound (which happened overnight the morning after the referendum) and their ability to raise prices to cover increased costs.
As an example Sports Direct reckon they lost £100m off bottom line profit due to currency fall. This will have a serious effect on future investment.
I think the rest of us had fallen asleep