Is a falling currency a good thing?

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Does a falling currency help or harm the economy? It's an urgent question for the UK, as the pound fell sharply in value against other major currencies after the referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union in June 2016. Market commentators put this down to foreign investors becoming intensely gloomy about the prospects for the UK economy after Brexit. Others have welcomed the drop, saying it will benefit British exporters. But is it really such a simple, binary question? Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies investigates. (Picture: A monitor at a trader's desk shows the dip in the value of the pound in the City of London on January 16, 2019; Credit: PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)