Live data from Hacker News

When George Soros Broke the British Pound (2014)

priceonomics.com

11–20 of 277 posts

Re: When George Soros Broke the British Pound (2014)

#11
post #2

The "Soros broke the bank" framing I tend to see in discussions of this is really quite odd, as if it were some sort of illegal Oceans 11 style heist. He didn't break the bank. The bank broke itself. > What kept the pound from plummeting in value was the British government’s guarantee that it would keep the value propped up, and the market believed that it would. As long as everyone believed that England would stay i…

This is correct and accepted view today. Floating currencies are a good thing because they adjust the economy automatically. Central banks should only "lean" against radical sudden movements but allow gradual straightening or weakening.

Trying to keep currency artificially strong with weak economy is insanity.

The economy of UK did better after Soros broke the Bank of England.

Re: When George Soros Broke the British Pound (2014)

#12
post #2

The "Soros broke the bank" framing I tend to see in discussions of this is really quite odd, as if it were some sort of illegal Oceans 11 style heist. He didn't break the bank. The bank broke itself. > What kept the pound from plummeting in value was the British government’s guarantee that it would keep the value propped up, and the market believed that it would. As long as everyone believed that England would stay i…

Soros shills in full force. "If you build a house in a brush canyon and then someone lights the brush on fire, it's YOUR fault for building house there." Ummmm... ok

Look at the economy of UK at the time. What damage Soros did to it? Soros extracted few billion as a fee from teaching a lesson but properly priced Sterlign was a good thing overall. The UK economy started to recover from recession immediately.

Re: When George Soros Broke the British Pound (2014)

#13
post #2

The "Soros broke the bank" framing I tend to see in discussions of this is really quite odd, as if it were some sort of illegal Oceans 11 style heist. He didn't break the bank. The bank broke itself. > What kept the pound from plummeting in value was the British government’s guarantee that it would keep the value propped up, and the market believed that it would. As long as everyone believed that England would stay i…

Soros shills in full force. "If you build a house in a brush canyon and then someone lights the brush on fire, it's YOUR fault for building house there." Ummmm... ok

If you intentionally pile up dead brush around your house into a nice big bonfire waiting for a spark, yes, you've got some culpability.

Re: When George Soros Broke the British Pound (2014)

#14
post #5
post #2

The "Soros broke the bank" framing I tend to see in discussions of this is really quite odd, as if it were some sort of illegal Oceans 11 style heist. He didn't break the bank. The bank broke itself. > What kept the pound from plummeting in value was the British government’s guarantee that it would keep the value propped up, and the market believed that it would. As long as everyone believed that England would stay i…

True. And if a kid pushes an old man and he breaks his hip, that's the old man's fault for getting old! Oh, wait. https://twitter.com/ceejayoz

Except that Soros did not hurt UK economy. Just bruised some egos at the Bank of England by showing their stupid mistakes.

Re: When George Soros Broke the British Pound (2014)

#15
post #2

The "Soros broke the bank" framing I tend to see in discussions of this is really quite odd, as if it were some sort of illegal Oceans 11 style heist. He didn't break the bank. The bank broke itself. > What kept the pound from plummeting in value was the British government’s guarantee that it would keep the value propped up, and the market believed that it would. As long as everyone believed that England would stay i…

Ah yes. When it's Wall Street doing it it's "greedy evil bankers" but when it's Soros, a vocal advocate of liberalism, suddenly it's just business as usual.

A central bank whose monetary policy relies on their not being greedy evil bankers is going to fail at implementing that policy.

Re: When George Soros Broke the British Pound (2014)

#16
post #2

The "Soros broke the bank" framing I tend to see in discussions of this is really quite odd, as if it were some sort of illegal Oceans 11 style heist. He didn't break the bank. The bank broke itself. > What kept the pound from plummeting in value was the British government’s guarantee that it would keep the value propped up, and the market believed that it would. As long as everyone believed that England would stay i…

If I build a house on stilts strong enough to withstand kicks but somebody comes along with a giant sledgehammer to break the stilts, they will be at least somewhat to blame.

Re: When George Soros Broke the British Pound (2014)

#18
post #2

The "Soros broke the bank" framing I tend to see in discussions of this is really quite odd, as if it were some sort of illegal Oceans 11 style heist. He didn't break the bank. The bank broke itself. > What kept the pound from plummeting in value was the British government’s guarantee that it would keep the value propped up, and the market believed that it would. As long as everyone believed that England would stay i…

Soros shills in full force. "If you build a house in a brush canyon and then someone lights the brush on fire, it's YOUR fault for building house there." Ummmm... ok

"If you build a house in a brush canyon and then someone lights the brush on fire, it's YOUR fault for building house there."

Don't we hear this exact same argument repeated in every thread about California wildfires?

Re: When George Soros Broke the British Pound (2014)

#19
post #2

The "Soros broke the bank" framing I tend to see in discussions of this is really quite odd, as if it were some sort of illegal Oceans 11 style heist. He didn't break the bank. The bank broke itself. > What kept the pound from plummeting in value was the British government’s guarantee that it would keep the value propped up, and the market believed that it would. As long as everyone believed that England would stay i…

If someone builds an argument on a weakly relevant analogy, and gets a response with an equally dumb, but oppositional analogy, who’s at fault for wasting time?

Re: When George Soros Broke the British Pound (2014)

#20
post #16
post #2

The "Soros broke the bank" framing I tend to see in discussions of this is really quite odd, as if it were some sort of illegal Oceans 11 style heist. He didn't break the bank. The bank broke itself. > What kept the pound from plummeting in value was the British government’s guarantee that it would keep the value propped up, and the market believed that it would. As long as everyone believed that England would stay i…

If I build a house on stilts strong enough to withstand kicks but somebody comes along with a giant sledgehammer to break the stilts, they will be at least somewhat to blame.

The house is the economy of UK in your metaphor. The house dropped into solid ground and was in better condition overall (especially exports). The Guy who build the house on stilts was proven wrong. Artificial stilts are stupid thing. Houses should be build on solid ground.
Post reply on HN