Brexit V: May says the right things

.... but does something strange, appointing Boris Johnson as her Foreign Minister. His history of confabulation, ducking responsibility, and attention seeking does not augur well for his skills as negotiator. So why did May appoint him? Cynic that I am, I suspect continuing internecine war within the Conservative Party. the nest few weeks should be interesting.
     The initial financial shocks have subsided. If the UK can demonstrate something like political stability, its economic decline may turn out to be less serious tan the first panicky reactions to Brexit suggested. We'll see. As with weather, economic forecasts need updating at regular intervals. My bet right now is that the slide of the pound will slow down, with an occasional uptick, but by this time next year it will at par with the dollar.
     Update January 31, 2020: The pound has settled down at around $1.30 US, about half of what it was in the early 1970s. There was of course no deal. Thatcher did got a deal, but it was voted down (three times!), she resigned, and  Boris was elected Prime Minister by his party. He called an election, and won a majority. He used it to "get it done", and Brexit is now a fact. Today is the day of the official separation of the UK from the EU.
    Of course it's not actually a separation. The UK and EU will be entangled for a year of transition, which Johnson claims will end with a super trade deal. It probably won't, but whatever happens, the UK won't do as well without the EU as the EU will do without the UK. And the UK will have to conform to EU regulations aboiut any and everything it wants to sell to the EU, so there will be no "taking back control." It will also have to agree to reciprocal work-visa rules, simply because it will need a continued influx of European workers.
     There have already been mumblings by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce (a remarkably inept body in my opinion) about a Canada-UK trade deal. It will likely happen, but which won't help the UK much, as it needs Canadian goods more than Canada needs UK goods. The same is true for any other deal the UK will make. I predict a fairly long and slow decline, which will coincide with the dying off the Littel Englander generation that brought about Brexit. At the end, maybe as far as 20 years from now, the UK will petition to rejoin the EU. That is, if other calamities haven't interfered with the orderly evolution of the international global order.
     In the meantime, the UK's skill at dry-cleaning dirty money will make it a haven for oligarchs from all over the world.