Tyler Cowen, Columnist

U.K. Needs a Second ‘Glorious Revolution,’ Only Calmer

The nation has a long history of European influence, a perspective needed for the Brexit talks.

June 27, 2017 at 2:06 PM UTC

Tyler Cowen is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist, a professor of economics at George Mason University and host of the Marginal Revolution blog.

Those darn Europeans keep thinking they can rule England.
Source: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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Imagine that a European leader invaded England and deposed the legitimate head of state, leaving a Dutchman in charge of the country. If you didn’t know any better, you might think this is an overwrought caricature of what the European Union was supposed to bring to British affairs, at least pre-Brexit; that story sounds far worse than the regulations, taxes or other depredations imposed by Brussels to date.

Yet the opening scenario refers to the 1680s, when William of Orange, who was born in The Hague and spoke Dutch, crossed the sea with a Dutch army and banished the native-born but Catholic king, James II.