How do we resolve the Brexit mess?

[gordondaviesmoustache]

When the euro first started I think it was 63p, now it's about 85p. As we approach parity it should be a fairly painless thing to do.

Not for the cunts it won’t be.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

Not for the cunts it won’t be.

Well, they've totally fucking blown it now.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

Well, they've totally fucking blown it now.

They have. For all of us. Thick, selfish cunts.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

They have. For all of us. Thick, selfish cunts.

Racist too.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

Racist too.

Not all of them.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

Not all of them.

Possibly, but all racists are brexiteers

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

Possibly, but all racists are brexiteers

There will be some intelligent, pragmatic racists who aren’t.

 

[Brewster's millions]

When you're abroad, and using a different currency, do you feel somehow lost or humiliated? I think not. You soon get used to it. The only downside is the cost of changing from one currency to another because the money changers take their cut. Go into the Euro and most of the money-changing costs vanish overnight. Good for business too, for the same reason.

It’s not simply a question of removing transaction costs though, which are typically very small now.

The fundamental issue is whether the UK economy is better served by having its own currency and independent monetary policy, or moving within a monetary union where, by definition, the UK economy would only be a partial influence on policy decisions.

The last official government assessment of this was done back in 2003 (the five economic tests), which favoured retaining monetary independence due to structural differences between the UK/EMU economies. These related in large part to the UK mortgage market, which was primarily floating rate in nature then, but this has changed markedly over the past 20 years, as indeed have lots of things.

 

[Ifwecouldjust.......]

It’s not simply a question of removing transaction costs though, which are typically very small now.

The fundamental issue is whether the UK economy is better served by having its own currency and independent monetary policy, or moving within a monetary union where, by definition, the UK economy would only be a partial influence on policy decisions.

The last official government assessment of this was done back in 2003 (the five economic tests), which favoured retaining monetary independence due to structural differences between the UK/EMU economies. These related in large part to the UK mortgage market, which was primarily floating rate in nature then, but this has changed markedly over the past 20 years, as indeed have lots of things.

Didn't we also hold a veto /exemption on bailing out other countries within the Eu (Greece for example) which we couldn't apply if we fell under the jurisdiction of a central bank?

 

[BrianW]

The only difference I can see is that we would no longer control our own interest rates. The Euro rate is currently lower.

I believe that if it is necessary to take money out of the economy, the straightforward way to do it is to increase income tax rather than interest rates. People would not like this, of course, but it is actually fairer. Income tax is paid in proportion to income, whereas increases in interest rates bear down disproportionately on younger people with large mortgages and (often) no great amount of surplus income.

It would require a slight change of mindset, but it would be worth it. The extra income tax could be used to reduce government borrowing, thus also bearing down on inflation. And any rise would, of course, be temporary, until inflation fell.