British Pound Falls to Two-Year Low Amid U.K. Economic Worries

Jul 09, 2019 · 34 comments
Steven (NYC)
And as the politicians lie, the people literally pay the price. Wake up America and vote before the corrupt conman Trump puts the US in a worst position than the UK, if that’s even possible. But with a lying conman like Trump, of course, it is.
Dave (Oakton, VA)
I'm old enough to recall when Charles de Gaulle, much to the chagrin of the rest of the "inner six", humiliated successive British attempts to join the European Common Market. Finally de Gaulle's influence waned and Ted Heath's government finally prevailed. No, it's not been a perfect union but no such grand experiment including the US' own "community" of fifty states has been. But Britain has thrown all the advantages of such into the dust bin over the results of an ill-concerved referendum; and worse the ineptitude over management of the "divorce settlement. Well, it just boggles my 74 year - old mind
R. Anderson (South Carolina)
The younger workers I know in Britain say they despise this Brexit because it will limit their job opportunities. Narrow minded old Brits, many on the dole, are jeopardizing their youths' future.
Cody McCall (tacoma)
Since Cameron pulled his 'referendum' stunt in '16, I've been trying to figure out who's the winner in this 'Brexit' scenario. I read the Times. The Guardian. The BBC. And I can't figure it. Who's the winner here?
arp (east lansing, MI)
@Cody McCall. Putin, Orban, Bannon, the places bright young people on the continent will now move to, and people who choose to misinterpret Churchill's speeches as glorifying unilateralism and British cooking of 1939.
Chien-Li Chung (Glen Ridge, NJ)
The crazy thing is no one wins. All sides lose. Probably the worst case of self harm since South Carolina fired on Fort Sumter.
Lisa (CT)
I would think Brexit is a big enough change for the UK. Electing this guy will not end well.
KMW (New York City)
This would be a good time to visit London or any other part of the U.K. The weather is nice, the people are friendly and the country is beautiful. I was there in March but would not mind going back. It is one of my favorite places to visit.
Yolanda Perez (Boston)
Sooo if you are planning to study abroad in London or other parts of the UK, it would be a good time to exchange money. Was very expensive when I was there in the 90s.
Tom B. (philadelphia)
Brexit is a mistake, it's going to mean tremendous hardship for most people in the UK, but for Americans who want to visit Britain, it's going to be awesome. $1.25 now, maybe $1.15 when Boris Johnson becomes Prime Minister. A hard Brexit by the fall and we could see dollar-pound parity for the first time in my lifetime. Hotel occupancy will drop and room rates will crash in London without the financial services industry and EU trading activity. You could see decent rooms in London for $100 -- also a first in my lifetime. It's what happens when a continental financial capital becomes an ex-capital.
Jean louis LONNE (France)
Britain imports more than it exports, especially food. Prices have been going up as pound has gone down since Brexit decided. Boris will put a last nail in the coffin and will dance at the funeral of Britain- hopefully the Scots will leave. My expatriate British friends getting small retirements in pounds, are becoming poorer and poorer.
Jeff Lymburner (Telluride CO)
@Jean louis LONNE The UK must import half of the food it consumes. HALF. Think of the cost of putting food on the table as the pound drops in value and the cost of importing food from the EU increases. Why anyone thought Brexit was a good idea still astounds me
Martin Daly (San Diego, California)
'The fall below $1.25 was significant, said Lee Hardman, a currency analyst at MUFG Bank, suggesting to investors that there were broad worries about the British currency. “It opens the door to further downside potential,” he said.' Oh. Why?
MGJ (Miami)
Vote in ole mophead Boris as PM with Brexit looming and watch that trend continue. #notwinning
Luciano (Jones)
Boris Johnson The Last Prime Minister 2019-2021
arp (east lansing, MI)
Why should anyone outside Britain care? The British have a flexible constitution and no separation of powers. They are supposed to have a skilled political class. Yet, they could not get beyond David Cameron's ineptitude and find a constructive solution. But not to worry: Some nonsense about the royal family and the threat posed by foreigners will distract enough of them to pretend it is 1940 all over again. Pratts and pillocks.
J Darby (Woodinville, WA)
My first thought was "the UK is really going off the rails". Then I reflected on the country I'm living in......
RM (Vermont)
Time to take that Scottish vacation.
nolongeradoc (London, UK)
The diplomatic spat is escalating out of control now. The level of personal insults being tweeted by Trump is, in my 50 year political awareness, quite unprecedented. Quite astonishingly insulting. I doubt a British Prime Minister has been addressed so since the days of Hitler. The Brexit plan was to replace our place at the the EU's top table with a 'close relationship' with the USA - i.e. sell off the family silver to American corporates in exchange for some ill defined patronage from the big guys. Now some proponents of this plan are now looking aghast at the torrent of vitriolic contempt from the Trump circus. It hasn't deterred the redneck faction here though; the screeching of delight as we head for a sort of poor relation of Puerto Rico is undiminished. I voted to for the UK to join the European project in 1975 and I've seen the benefits that accrued ever since. It's astonishing what we're throwing away to become America's troll. Mind blowing. Who's that pathetic house elf creature at Harry Potter's Hogwarts? Dobby. That's us.
Still Waiting for a NBA Title (SL, UT)
I have been waiting my whole life for the pound to drop below the dollar. There didn't seem any fundamental reason it has always been so high beside...tradition. Once it does, I know where I am going for my next vacation!
larkspur (dubuque)
In other words goods made in the US will be more expensive in the UK and goods made in the UK will be more expensive in the US. The trade deficit will fluctuate accordingly. I understand the trade deficit by the observation that people in the US consume more stuff than people make in the US. The stuff has to come from someplace. It's a function of demand. Tariffs don't really impact this pattern of consumption. I suppose Tariffs can help balance the budget for the federal government in the face of drastic tax cuts on corporate profits. It's a kind of US value added tax except that it's on a hodgepodge of items imported by companies that can't get an exception from team TRUMP.
Observer (Florida)
Yes, $100 worth of US goods will cost Brits more, but 100 pounds sterling of British goods will cost Americans less ($124 instead of $126).
Rick (Summit)
George Soros, the great backer of the Democratic Party, made billions by betting against the Pound then breaking the Bank of England.
Marko Polo (Madrid)
Give up that canard already.
David Boyle (Rochester, UK)
Ideologues at either end of the political spectrum will welcome the economic ruin that will emerge from a no-deal Brexit. Disaster capitalists will use the opportunity to create a low regulation, low wage economy while disaster socialists will be looking to create a statist ‘socialism in one country’. Reminded of Yeats’ poem ‘The Second Coming’ Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.
Jim (Florida)
@David Boyle Demand a new referendum then. Don't just accept going over a cliff because that's the road you started out on without knowing the details of the destination.
terry brady (new jersey)
A better idea might be to scrap the pound Sterling for Euros, with or without Brexit.
Jeff (California)
@terry brady: What a good idea! It goes right along with Britain wanting all of the benefits of the EU without any of the responsibilities. The pound is dropping because of Brexit.
SJP (Europe)
The drop of the pound will cushion the fall of the british economy for its exporters. It will however hit the most vulnerable, who will see prices of everthing imported inflate in supermarkets, but then again brexiteers will find a way to blame the EU for this. I won't shed a tear for those who voted to leave, but I pity those who voted to remain and who will nevertheless suffer as much as the others. The most logical solution would be to revoke Art.50 and cancel the whole brexit-thing, but alas I can't see any logic anymore among british politicians: only cold calculations, hypocrisy and sheer opportunism are running the show.
KB (London)
@SJP Well put. That's pretty much it. It seems corruption and madness are stalking the corridors of power on both sides of the Atlantic, and that the same dark money forces are behind it all. On this side of the pond they are giddy at the thought of using their offshore accounts to buy up UK assets at a bargain. At home, Trump and the Republicans are doing their best to stymie democracy and the rule of law. Someone who had to work with Boris and was not the least bit impressed, and thought we'd all be in trouble if he became PM.
SJP (Europe)
@SJP Also, as much as I suspect Trump is shortselling markets everytime he announces trade sanctions on a country, I very well imagine Nigel Farage and Jacob Rees-Mogg will make a fortune from a no-deal Brexit. Both of them worked in the City of London as investment bankers, traders or hedge-fund managers.
Christy (WA)
Welcome to Brexit. Next act, Boris Johnson leading his lemmings over the white cliffs of Dover.
JP (Denver)
@Christy Which will be followed by Act III, Scotland breaking off from the UK.
SJP (Europe)
@JP And new Troubles in Northern Ireland