2026-05-26
5 分钟The Economist.
Rosie Bloor here, co-host of The Intelligence, our daily news and current affairs podcast.
You're about to hear an article from the latest edition of The Economist read aloud.
We hope you enjoy it.
If Britain were a football team, it would be flirting with relegation.
Its economy is flailing, its people are demoralised and another embarrassing crisis is unfolding at the top.
Happily, one British industry provides a game plan for recovery.
Forty years ago, English football was a laughing-stock.
Today, it is a global powerhouse.
As we report this week, the Premier League is the most watched sports competition on the planet
and generates £10 billion, that's $13 billion, in gross value added a year.
Politicians who want to make Britain great again could do worse than learn from the Premier League.
One lesson is to play to your strengths.
Britain invented football.
It is also attractive to footloose capital and talent.
The Premier League takes advantage of this, welcoming foreign investors to buy clubs and foreign coaches
and players to make them excellent.
It is far more open than its rivals.
Openness has fallen out of fashion, but Sir Keir Starmer should know as an Arsenal fan,
celebrating his team's league title this week, that unpopular tactics can work best.