Institutional Investor (June 4)
Due to Brexit, “sovereign investors now consider the U.K. less attractive than they did a year ago and are instead favoring investments in Germany and India as part of a broader move to so-called safe haven markets.” The change in sentiment was identified through a survey of “sovereign wealth funds, state-owned pensions, and central banks polled by Invesco.”
Tags: Brexit, Central banks, Germany, India, Invesco, Investors, Pensions, Safe havens, Sentiment, Sovereign, U.K.
Washington Post (May 7)
“The anti-E.U. French leader Marine Le Pen’s larger-than-expected defeat Sunday in her nation’s presidential election was a crushing reality check for the far-right forces who seek to overthrow Europe: Despite the victories for Brexit and Donald Trump, they are likely to be shut out of power for years.”
The Economist (April 22)
In the UK, everything “changes with the news of an election” this June. “With a proper mandate and some clout in Parliament, the prime minister would have the chance to shake off the ‘Theresa Maybe’ nickname that we gave her earlier this year.” Meanwhile, “businesses, lobby groups and, of course, private citizens have a chance to make the case for a soft Brexit both during the campaign and after it…. The battle over Brexit was fought last summer. The battle to define what form it should take is far from over.”
The Guardian (March 29)
“There’s no going back–May has burned the boats of a divided nation.” But the move is backward looking, despite the Prime Minister’s protestations that the move will enable “a stronger, fairer, better Britain–a Britain our children and grandchildren are proud to call home.” In fact, only 12% of young people aged 18-24 support Brexit while 65% think leaving the EU is wrong. “At the other end of the age spectrum, the over-65s say the opposite, with 62% saying it was right to leave and 31% saying it was wrong.”
Financial Times (February 24)
Germany and Italy now appear to be backing Brussels hardliners on fixing the bill for Brexit. They are supporting Michel Barnier, the chief EU negotiator, “in seeking progress on divorce terms as an opening step.” The move to focus “on Britain’s €60bn exit bill” will come as a major “blow to Downing Street.”
Tags: Barnier, Brexit, Brussels, Divorce terms, Downing Street, EU, Germany, Hardliners, Italy, Negotiator
The Economist (February 11)
“Leave campaigners promised voters that Brexit would save the taxpayer £350m ($440m) a week. That pledge was always tendentious. But officials in Brussels are drawing up a bill for departure that could mean Britain’s contributions remain close to its membership dues for several years after it leaves.” The final tab is estimated to be “anything between €24.5bn ($26.1bn) and €72.8bn.”
Newsweek (February 8)
“A hard “Brexit could threaten 30,000 jobs in London’s world-class finance sector,” according to a recent report, if the firms “lose their ‘passport’ to operate across the EU.” Of course, nobody will really know until Brexit transpires, but the same study suggests “17 percent of all U.K. banking assets might be on the move as a result of Brexit” and the U.K.’s share of the European financial services market could contract from the current 90% to around 60%.
The Economist (January 28)
The upcoming White House visit by the UK’s Prime Minister will be “a study in awkwardness: the mother superior dropping in on the Playboy Mansion.” Theresa May is not a natural fan of the Donald. “So why is Mrs May hurrying to Washington? Because Brexit compels Britain’s leaders to show that the country has powerful allies.” She “is desperate to line up a Britain-America trade deal that can be closed as soon as Brexit takes place, probably in 2019.”
Tags: Allies, Awkwardness, Brexit, Desperate, Prime minister, Theresa May, Trade deal, UK, Visit, White House
The Economist (November 26)
“Britain is in a state of unprecedented uncertainty. The government is unclear about what sort of Brexit it wants. Economic forecasting is, as a result, as good as guesswork. The outlook for the public finances is similarly uncertain.” Nevertheless,“this year’s Autumn Statement, in sum, hinted at how painful Brexit is going to be.”
Tags: Brexit, Forecasting, Government, Guesswork. Outlook, Painful, UK, Uncertainty, Unprecedented
The Economist (November 12)
Trump’s election “threatens old certainties about America and its role in the world.” America’s allies have been rocked by “the sense that old certainties are crumbling…. The fear that globalisation has fallen flat has whipsawed markets. Although post-Brexit Britons know what that feels like, the referendum in Britain will be eclipsed by consequences of this election. Mr Trump’s victory has demolished a consensus. The question now is what takes its place.”
Tags: Allies, Brexit, Certainties, Consensus, Election, Fear, Globalization, Markets, Trump, U.S.
