if one dude can sink a bank of england... i blame the bank for being vulnerable and the state for not having laws to prevent that. If he's smart enough to do it and not go to jail, shiiiit... I don't blame any businessman who legally finds a tactic sustainable enough to make billions on the stupidity of hundreds of lawyers.
LOL @ getbiggers calling him dumb... he outsmarted a bank and a country. LOL. I sure don't agree with his political ideology... but calling him dumb? sheesh.
And that's why floating currencies which are not based on gold reserves are a bad idea, they are at the mercy of speculators and large banks who have the funds to raise or lower the value.
For instance in the 1997 Asian crisis, the speculators kept hitting the Thai baht, knowing the Bank of Thailand was trying to defend their currency and kept pushing till they ran out of foreign currency reserves. The result was a massive crash in the currency leading to cheap prices so they could buy low. The effect of this spread to the rest of Asia and the world.
The problem with this is that it effects millions of innocent people, wiping out their savings, closing their businesses, job losses etc. And the most at risk are the poorer countries who are essentially condemned to be permanently poor because of their weak currency, which is basically the 'share' value of their country.