Quote:
Originally Posted by JNW1
Sterling was trading against the Euro at an average of around 1.27 for most of early 2016 prior to the referendum. I'd concede it's dipped recently because of the on-going political stalemate here but if you go back to the end of April it was trading at around 1.17; yes that's lower than pre-referendum but a reduction of 8% is hardly cataclysmic IMO. The fall between mid-2015 and early 2016 (all of which happened pre-referendum) was even greater but I don't recall anyone worrying overly about that.
I don't remember reading that and it certainly wasn't me who made the comment to which you refer. However, on the wider point, I always think it's a bit simplistic to think of a high value of the pound being "good" and a low value being "bad"; an over-valued currency can be bad for the economy just as an under-valued one can. I therefore don't quite get the hysteria surrounding the fall of the pound since the referendum; yes it's a negative when we want to go on holiday abroad - or for businesses that import lots of materials and components - but equally it's an opportunity for those businesses that export a lot. The reality is there are winners and losers when a currency fluctuates and I haven't seen any evidence to show that overall the UK economy has suffered significantly as a direct consequence of the fall in sterling over the last three years.
The one thing all sides seemed to agree on before the referendum was the result would be respected whatever the outcome. Therefore, to try to play the "it was only advisory" card now - and claim it was all just an expensive opinion poll - is even more ridiculous than wanting to put Boris in prison for stating a figure nobody believed!
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As I said, the economy hasn't suffered massively yet. Exports have been propped up by the drop in Sterling.
But, as you say individuals don't really benefit from it. We are a net importer from the EU and we certainly spend a lot there on holidays as a country.
Business owners get richer, workers get poorer. Do you think people knew that's what they were voting for? I hope so, because there's probably more to come.
If you can split hairs between the definition of a lie and a deliberate half truth, followed by telling people the referendum was completely binary, then I can point out technicalities too.