ABSTRACT
In the June 2001 British general election, Tony Blair's Labour government was returned to power for another five years. The big issue for Prime Minister Blair is when to call a referendum on Britain joining the European single currency, the euro. The chapter reviews that the empirical evidence is that British/North American economic links are just as strong as British/European links. The reality of triad-based regional economic activity is supported by the evidence. The aggregate economic data on trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) reveal the lack of globalisation and the importance of regional-triad production. The stock of British FDI in the United States nearly doubled in 1998 and almost tripled in 1999 as compared to the 1997 level. The United States is the largest single foreign investor in Britain, holding 40 percent of the inward stock. The issue or Britain and the euro cannot be analysed properly, however, unless the economic background of globalisation is properly understood.
