In the run-up to the referendum, it was common for Leave campaigners to compare quitting the EU to Britain’s embarrassing but ultimately beneficial departure from the European exchange rate mechanism (ERM) in 1992. The pound tumbled after “Black Wednesday”, and by 1995 the economy had begun to rocket.

George Magnus, a former chief economist at Swiss investment bank UBS, says there is no question the recent fall in the pound will help some companies, “but it’s most unlikely to offset other economic problems the UK is going to encounter”.

He says that, unlike in the 1990s, the pound is not starting from a “chronically overvalued” position. Twenty-four years ago, world trade was enjoying the early fruits of globalisation and the productivity gains offered by an untrammelled financial services industry and a booming IT sector.

Today China and many other emerging-market economies have started to age and growth has slowed, dragging down global trade. Employment figures from the US on Friday show the US economy is struggling and the Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise rates as expected this summer.

As if this wasn’t bad enough, the UK’s balance of payments deficit of 7% is three times as big as it was before the ERM exit.

This is the conundrum facing Bank of England governor Mark Carney, who has had a good fortnight, handing down messages of financial stability, but now must prevent the economy slipping into recession while the Conservatives are distracted by a leadership election.

He has said that the Bank’s monetary policy committee has plenty of ammunition left to support growth. But without an export boom flowing from a lower exchange rate, it is easy to picture him holding a pop gun and not the bazooka he imagines.

He could shave a quarter of a percent from the 0.5% base rate and offer cheaper money to high-street banks via quantitative easing. But the financial system is already awash with funds. What it lacks is confidence, and only a coherent strategy from No 11 Downing Street can provide that.