The U.K. Believes in Free Trade. Americans, Take Note.

Free trade and fiscal discipline are on the ballot in November 2024, and in the recent past, the United Kingdom touched the stove on both issues and came away singed. Just ask U.K. Investment Minister Dominic Johnson, who stopped by the Barron’s newsroom last week on a trip through the U.S., part of his ongoing efforts to drum up investment into the U.K. Brexit has forced the country to look farther abroad for sources of growth, and Johnson and his colleagues in the Conservative government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak face intense global competition. The U.S. and U.K. economies are of vastly different scales, to be sure, and the U.S. benefits from unique advantages, including the role of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.