Philippe Legrain is a British political economist and writer. He specializes in global and European economic issues, notably globalisation, migration, the post-crisis world and the

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

. A visiting senior fellow at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

' European Institute, he is a former adviser to European Commission president

José Manuel Barroso José Manuel Durão Barroso (; born 23 March 1956) is a Portuguese politician and law professor. He previously served from 2002 to 2004 as the List of Prime Ministers of Portugal, 114th prime minister of Portugal and from 2004–2014 as the 11 ...

from 2011 to 2014.

Early life and background

Legrain was born in 1973. His father is French and his mother Estonian. They met in New York and married in 1969. They moved to London where Philippe was born and he considers himself British "though cosmopolitan in outlook".

Career

Legrain is the author of four books: ''Open World: The Truth about Globalisation'', which is a counter-argument to Naomi Klein's '' No Logo''; ''Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them'' was shortlisted for the 2007 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award; ''Aftershock: Reshaping the World Economy After the Crisis''; and ''European Spring: Why Our Economies and Politics are in a Mess – and How to Put Them Right'', which the Financial Times calls "essential reading". From February 2011 to February 2014, he was principal adviser and head of the analysis team at the Bureau of European Policy Advisers to the president of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

. As such, he provided President Barroso with independent economic advice and led the team which provides him with strategic policy advice. Before that, Legrain was a visiting fellow at the European Institute of the

, a senior fellow at the Lisbon Council for Economic Competitiveness and Social Renewal and a contributing editor to '' Prospect magazine''. A commentator for

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

TV and radio, he has written for various newspapers and magazines, including the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

Europe'' and the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

''. He is an advocate of freer international migration, globalisation, the

and a land value tax. Legrain has also been trade and economics correspondent for ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'', special adviser to WTO director-general Mike Moore, and chief economist and director of policy for the pro-European pressure group, Britain in Europe. He holds a BSc in economics and an MSc in politics of the world economy, both from the

Bibliography

*''Open World: The Truth about Globalisation'' (2002) Philippe Legrain *''Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them'' (2007) Philippe Legrain *''Aftershock: Reshaping the World Economy After the Crisis'' (2010) Philippe Legrain *''European Spring: Why Our Economies and Politics are in a Mess – and How to Put Them Right'' (2014) Philippe Legrain

References

External links

Philippe Legrain's websiteNew York Times Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Legrain, Philippe 1973 births Living people British male journalists Writers from London English people of Estonian descent English people of French descent British economists Writers about globalization British republicans