The obvious policy response is intervention to cap the sterling rate, buildup foreign-exchange reserves, and offset the monetary effects by issuing sterling debt.
It would also result in disruption and layoffs at the contractor and subcontractor facilities around the country and necessitate a time-consuming and expensive effort to reestablish the line involving requalification of myriad vendors and the painful resumption of the build-up to full-rate production.
In years to come, warns veteran oil analyst Matthew Simmons, to keep up supply the world will need to build new rigs at a rate not seen since the "Liberty Ship" drive of World War II.
The good news is that big banks probably now have enough capital to absorb the aggregate loss rate suffered by the system from 2007 to 2009 (although their build-up of liquidity reserves has been patchier).