On June 23, 2016 a referendum was held that decided whether the United Kingdom would leave or stay with the European Union. The results were close, but voters favored in leaving, coining the term Brexit. As a result, former Prime Minister David Cameron resigned and plagued the unanimous decision by predicting an immediate recession with high unemployment following the collapses of banks and the UK news market. Most of the world thought that this separation from the largest economy would be catastrophic, and in effect, cause a detrimental domino effect.
Before getting into the aftermath of Brexit, it is important to understand what the UK was a part of for several decades. The EU was created after World War II to promote cooperation and efficiency between European countries (BBC News). Originally, the idea was to create a single political entity, but that dream has now subsided. Members of the union can participate in trading of goods or services, free of any tariffs and customs procedures. It also gives companies within a member's country access to the EU's attractive Single Market, which allows business to be conducted freely without restrictions. Once Article 50 is evoked, the process of dismantling the UK from the EU begins and it will no longer reap these benefits. There are always two sides to every story, which backs up the UK news reasoning of leaving behind the EU. In the past few decades, the EU has yet to fulfill its role as a leader for the countries it represents. Jobs, living standards, and welfare have all been unprotected and are diminishing for most people, while the small range of investors in the Single Market have been benefitting. Just the collapse of both Greece and Spain's economies alone are examples to how unpromising the union is perceived. The UK wants to take its losses, and move forward independently. In other words it has rejected the idea of globalization. No longer will the UK allow influence from other nations to control and restrict its decisions. While a part of the EU, growth for the country was minimal and businesses no longer needed to rely on access to the Single Market. This is because they already established stable financial relationships with countries that rely on the UK's goods and services (Forbes). After Brexit occurred, the pound immediately fell and was 15% lower against the dollar and 10% compared to the Euro. However, the weaker pound has improved exporting business and increasing sales towards economic growth for the UK news . Even the FTSE 250 Index, which mainly focuses on domestic companies, has risen 11% since the referendum. Plus, interest rates have been cut in half to 0.25% to help the economy as well, being the first time since 2009 (BBC News).
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