It is fashionable to be down on the United Kingdom’s prospects. But it is wiser to be optimistic, rather than negative, on the country’s long-term future.

Why? Because many of the issues faced by the United Kingdom are shared by almost all other Western nations: significant public sector debt burdens, rising long-term sovereign bond yields, ageing populations, extremism amplified through social media, and growing trade barriers. Relatively speaking, the United Kingdom is well-placed, for many reasons, to deal with these better than other members of large, developed economies.

The United Kingdom’s well-established fundamentals should benefit the country in the longer term. These include its economic weight, common sense and generally decent approach to life, aversion to extremism, scientific and educational leadership, rule of law (with longstanding corporate and real estate legislation), independent currency, time zone, island status, and boreal geographical posi