N o, this is not the Black Friday which has come to mean great sale prices the day after Thanksgiving Day in the United States — unless you happen to be an American traveling to the United Kingdom, where the value of the British Pound has dropped greater than nine percent overnight to its lowest level since September of 1985, as a pound can now be purchased for as low as $1.32…
…and that is not good news to hear if you are currently waking up as a resident of the United Kingdom.
Welcome to Black Friday: United Kingdom Votes to Leave European Union
Scotland, London and the majority of Northern Ireland were amongst greater than 48 percent of the voters who supported remaining in the European Union; but to no avail despite the close vote: fewer than 52 percent of the voters — the majority mainly from Wales and the remainder of England — were opposed, according to the preliminary results of the referendum.
There has been a lot of fear and panic which is currently sweeping the world — including media speculation that:
- Scotland may call for another referendum to leave the United Kingdom, as it attempted to do back in September of 2014
- Ireland and Northern Ireland could possibly unite sometime in the future
- Other countries — such as the Netherlands — may consider leaving the European Union as well
- David Cameron may be forced to resign as prime minister of the United Kingdom
- Financial markets worldwide will be extremely volatile in the near term — they are down sharply as I type this — and perhaps for weeks to come
- Investors are turning to the United States dollar and the Japanese Yen for save havens — and the price of gold has increased sharply while oil has slumped in price
- If it is possible that the United Kingdom would vote to leave the European Union, then it is entirely possible that Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States — and in fact, Trump is on an airplane on his way to Scotland as I type this article
Summary
I am still attempting to wrap my head around what is going on in what is shaping up to be one of the more significant financial and economic events in the history of this planet; but I am not panicking, as I am not yet convinced that all of the apocalyptic doom and gloom is warranted. The “divorce” — as some in the mainstream media are calling it — will take approximately two full years to complete, if not longer.
Although Mark of Miles From Blighty is not exactly delighted about the news, Stefan Krasowski of Rapid Travel Chai is looking at it from the point of view that this turmoil could be an opportunity for great deals for travelers — and if so, do not feel guilty about taking advantage of any bargains which you may find.
Grab the popcorn — what is currently unfolding will continue to be interesting as the day progresses. In fact, I am sure that new developments will already be revealed by the time you read this article; and what happens next is anyone’s guess…
Photograph ©2008 by Brian Cohen.
