I still don't understand the motivations behind the Brexiteers and I was a Political Science major (switched to tech for a paycheque) who visited the EU and sat in the European Parliament as a student and I watched the UK House of Commons regularly during the Brexit debates.
The best I can surmise is its all led by a hidden cabal of elitist business interests and public school Conservatives with political power and economic incentives all getting rich out of this somehow while the UK decays into a failed state and the buying power of the average citizen crumbles.
All a Russian spy operation I'm sure. (Which I'm sure did play some part actually.)
More seriously however, it's a demonstration of the harm xenophobia and nationalism can do.
I also feel that a lot of people today, probably from boomers to younger, have lost sight of how our societies really function. We/they take the relatively free and luxurious life we live as a natural result of history and technological advancement, not the product of millennias of work and design. A lot of people think nothing can shake our standard of living, which makes questions such as how a country is organized purely a question of preference, not reason.
Which is why you can't reason with them and you can't explain things to them, because they don't believe that anything you tell them matters. They not only don't understand how and why they have so many options available at the supermarket, they don't think it's important to know.
(And of course for the rich it largely is purely a question of preference, they'll always be fine.)
Sooooo.. the pound has fallen off a cliff the past few days and hit record lows vs USD. Currently sitting at 1.07 USD - was at $1.30 back in April. With the reaction to their new 'economic plan' of cutting taxes - good chance it hits parity with USD in the next little bit.
Even dropped $0.20 off vs CAD in the past few months.
Sooooo.. the pound has fallen off a cliff the past few days and hit record lows vs USD. Currently sitting at 1.07 USD - was at $1.30 back in April. With the reaction to their new 'economic plan' of cutting taxes - good chance it hits parity with USD in the next little bit.
Even dropped $0.20 off vs CAD in the past few months.
That is fine by me, being I am currently residing in the UK for the next year or so. Makes it much more feasible to be here!
That makes no sense. Everything you purchase in the UK gets more expensive. Unless you are regularly exchanging CAD, you’re just getting poorer every day you spend here.
Great for Canadian tourists though.
I’m genuinely frightened for the exchange rate when I visit Calgary in April. Of course this is also the year I’ve promised my son new skis for his 18th.
I know hyperbole is a given when talking politics and economics, but I don’t think it is hyperbole when I say that the UK government is acting as if it is running a banana republic.
It's because if your country's inflation is worse than other countries', that inherently devalues your currency. And the market isn't particularly impressed with the UK government injecting a bunch of money into the system through borrowing vast sums of money to fund tax cuts (mostly for the wealthy) during a high inflation period. It's one thing if you're supporting people so they can afford necessities that would otherwise be bought with credit, but another if you're giving already rich people more discretionary income.
Most countries are trying to reduce liquidity to tackle inflation, but the UK is now doing the opposite. And now the Bank of England has had to step in with quantitative easing again, buying up £65B in government bonds to drive yields downwards (which will tend to further exacerbate inflation).
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I bought some GBP in the early summer in advance of travel to the UK this fall, out of fear that it would go back up. "It can't get much lower, right?" That was a mistake.
Thankfully we are talking about hundreds and not thousands, and my visit will still be "cheaper" regardless, thanks to Boris and the Brexit clown show.
UK government with that 'UCP special'... propose something with minimal thought, encounter public backlash, meekly retract proposal, announce that they've "listened" to the people.
Haha what a trainwreck. Truss does a U-turn on lowering corporate tax, sacks Kwarteng and then holds a press conference where she only answers 4 questions and refuses to apologise. Reportedly, Tory MPs are livid and calling for her head too.
She's trying to speedrun and beat Theresa May's record.
Edit: I should clarify I mean the record for shortest term by a female. There are a dozen or so males that have had shorter terms than May, including recently Gordon Brown. I suppose Truss could be trying for the overall record of 119 days though!
Last edited by Monahammer; 10-14-2022 at 08:54 AM.
She's trying to speedrun and beat Theresa May's record.
Edit: I should clarify I mean the record for shortest term by a female. There are a dozen or so males that have had shorter terms than May, including recently Gordon Brown. I suppose Truss could be trying for the overall record of 119 days though!
She's at less than 6 weeks right now and they are already after her. Its a brisk pace.
