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Article: The ERM legacy;How the men behind Black Wednesday fiasco have prospered since 1992; Thousands suffered financial meltdown. But, guess what, the architects of the fiasco have prospered;Ten years after Britain's exit from the Exchange Rate Mechanism, a look at the key players.
- Article from:
- Daily Mail (London)
- Article date:
- September 17, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: EDWARD HEATHCOAT AMORY
YESTERDAY was the tenth anniversary of one of the worst debacles in British political history - Black Wednesday.
It was the day the pound crashed out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, the pre-Euro attempt to harmonise currencies.
Many saw it as inevitable, warning that Britain had entered on impossible terms two years earlier. By early 1992, currency speculators were betting massively on a devaluation but John Major and his government stubbornly persisted in trying to prop up the pound.
Black Wednesday itself was a day of futile and farcical events, which saw interest rates pushed up from 10 per ...