WSJ: ‘Rather Than Kibitz On Behalf Of Brussels, A U.S. President Ought To Wish Britons Well Whatever They Decide’

From the Wall Street Journal:

President Obama arrives in London Thursday to tell the U.K. to stay in the European Union, and no doubt Britons will appreciate this intervention as much as Mr. Obama appreciated Benjamin Netanyahu’s on the Iran deal. The British are already debating June’s Brexit referendum with a seriousness we wish the U.S. presidential candidates could match…

…Our view has been that Europe is stronger with a free-market Britain inside EU councils, but that case is harder to make today as Europe refuses to reform. The question for Britons is thus whether the short-term economic costs and uncertainty of Brexit are worth the longer-term benefits of a freer economic policy that could make the U.K. more competitive.

Rather than kibitz on behalf of Brussels, a U.S. President ought to wish Britons well and say the U.S. will stand with them whatever they decide. That should include engaging them in talks for a bilateral trade deal or to join the North American Free Trade Agreement if they do leave the EU. Fear-mongering about British economic isolation isn’t helpful.

Read the rest of the Wall Street Journal’s editorial here.