The Brexit's effects continue to reverberate across Europe, especially in the UK's southern neighbor, France. Many French people are dissatisfied with the Euro, and right-wing parties like Marine Le Pen's National Front have been gaining steam, calling for a Frexit in the near future, possibly in 2017.
Do you think a Frexit could happen? While it is tempting to scoff at the possibility, very few people actually expected the Brexit to happen.
After the results of the Brexit, I would not be surprised to hear about a Frexit referendum, but as much as I doubted Brexit would win, I am doubly convinced a Frexit referendum would end with a "Remain" victory.
The UK has always been an outsider to the EU. It never adopted the pound, joined the EU late in the game, and has always tried to get special exemptions for itself. This is in part because of the UK has traditionally stayed somewhat out of Continental politics, and for other reasons. The Brexit rattled the EU but there was no doubt the EU would still remain.
But France, a founding member of the EU and a member of the Eurozone from the beginning? Not a chance. There would be way too much market volatility for a country whose economic recovery is still lagging and is so interconnected to the rest of Europe. The markets floundered after a Brexit and economists worldwide nearly universally condemned the decision. One can all too vividly imagine what would happen to France after a Frexit.
Part of me nostalgically would love to see the French Franc back in circulation, but in all honesty, it's not going to happen. Nor should it.
