The UK Wimbledon Strategy
Although also labelled a ‘liberal’ market economy, the UK has strongly pursued internationalized statism in stark contrast to the US. It has followed a ‘Wimbledon’ strategy of seeking to attract Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) from all over the world even if they take large stakes in prominent British firms. Both formal and informal instruments have been actively used to welcome SWFs, who have taken significant stakes in leading British firms in strategic sectors and bought nationally symbolic buildings and brands. The UK has followed strong internationalized statism thanks to the dominance of the political executive in policy making that has allowed it to frame SWF investments in terms of economic governance rather than national security and the weakness of the legislature in raising concerns. Despite domestic privatizations, it has welcomed overseas state capital that has reinforced existing strategies of aiding privileged sectors such as finance.