By Bob Walsh
It was like watching an unfolding train wreck. All of the “experts” and talking heads and most of the politicians assured the voters in the U.K. that they were morons if they even considered leaving the massive benefits of membership in the E.U. Well, the peasants and unwashed masses told them to go fuck themselves.
The vote tally started with a mild advantage to the LEAVE side. Then it got bigger. And bigger. And bigger. It ended up with a 4% majority.
The Japanese stock index started dropping like a rock, and they suspended trading. There has been speculation that the stock market will NOT open in London and N.Y. today (06-24). The Down Jones futures (an educated guess as to how the stock market will go) is indicating down over 500 for this morning. At one time it was over 700. The New York stock market will be very volatile for about a week or so I expect. Both the British Pound and the Euro dropped like poleaxed steers in comparison to the U.S. Dollar.
The British P.M. announced he is leaving and that there will be a new P.M. in October to see the country thru the British exit from the E.U., which will take about two years to accomplish fully.
There is wide speculation that this will trigger a huge shift in how the E.U. operates and that other members will change their status so that they are part of the economic union but not subject to the governmental controls and edicts from unelected bureaucrats in Belgium. It is even possible that the E.U. will totally crash and burn.
There are already comparisons of this “up yours” attitude with the campaign of Donald Trump. Hell, the talking heads may even be right on that one.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Now there are calls in France and Italy for a vote on exiting the E.U. And the Scots, who voted overwhelmingly to remain in the E.U., are calling for a vote on seceding from the U.K.
The 52-48 percent vote margin was not only a mortal blow to Prime Minister David Cameron, but it was also a blow to his buddy Barack Obama who traveled to Britain to campaign for the U.K. to remain a part of the E.U.
1 comment:
During the recently-held Scottish referendum the Scots themselves voted by an 11% margin to STAY in the U. K. That being said, the Scots and Northern Irish voted about 2-1 to stay in the E. U., so that might be enough of a push for them to run anther referendum and it might be enough to push the balance in the other direction. I wonder if you can support a country on haggis, sheep and fish?
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