The second group of my angry correspondents argues that the exchange rate is whatever it is because of the actions of financial markets. Who are we, or the monetary authorities for that matter, to second-guess them? This view is from the same stable, you will notice, as the assumption that the banks were good judges of whether to lend on so-called “sub-prime” mortgages before the financial crash. I am reminded of the episode of Fawlty Towers when Basil has supposedly been restrained by fear of his wife from placing a winning bet on a horse. He says to Sybil: “Still, you know best.”