Yesterday, with a 52 percent majority, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union.
Brexit—a shortened term for “British exit”— called for the UK to assert its independence, as the countries’ relative influence is growing weaker, while immigration numbers are just growing.
However, given that polls prior to the vote indicated a likely verdict of remaining, the choice to leave was surprising—especially to adversaries who believed Brexit would create economic and security risks.
The decision has devalued the pound by more than 10 percent, negatively shocked the global stock market, and incited Prime Minister David Cameron to resign.
But according to the BBC, nothing is final yet. Parliament still has yet to ratify the vote, and if two-thirds of members vote for a general election to be held with in the next four years, the UK might not be going anywhere.
Nevertheless, as per usual, the fear of economic turmoil has caused economic turmoil, with investors rushing to pull out their cash from any slightly risky stock purchases.
The nature and degree of the impact of this choice on global markets, British business, and trade barriers has still yet to be determined. What we do know, however, that the worldwide reprocussions of this vote are going to be dominating our newsfeeds for the foreseeable future.