[ascorbic]

That's a very outdated view. I'm an exporter, selling products manufactured in the UK, and this is nothing but bad news. Leaving the single market will massively increase the pain of exporting to Europe. Also, like most exporters, I sell products that include lots of parts imported from outside the UK. The cost of these inputs has gone up by 20%, and cannot be replaced by alternatives in the UK. It's outdated to think that devaluing the currency automatically makes exports cheaper.

The UK's biggest goods export sector is cars, mostly to the EU. They would be subject to tariffs that far exceed their profit margin. However that pales into insignificance in comparison to trade in services. Financial services are one of the UK's biggest exports, and the biggest contributor to corporation tax receipts. The industry is heavily reliant on access to the EU markets, particularly "passporting" rules. It looks likely they will lose this access, which would be disastrous for the industry, and will cost this country billions.

As for the pound being over-valued: right now it is, aside from a few months in 1985, at its lowest level against the dollar in history.

[neffy]

Exactly. Mostly these days the UK imports, adds value, and exports.

While I was over in the UK enjoying an extremely cheap vacation, some Brexit friends were complaining about the price of a recent holiday in Greece, which they blamed on the EU.

They completely missed the pound is weak connection.