Philippe Legrain

Read my latest piece for Foreign Policy

Unprecedented uncertainty hangs over international trade. While markets and multinationals are—understandably—fixated on the immediate prospects for trade relations between the US and China, far bigger long-term questions cloud the future. This is often simplistically framed as a binary question: is globalisation set to go into reverse? Or more politically, are the US and China heading […]

A new report I co-authored for OPEN with Hosuk Lee-Makiyama explains how AI could help EU institutions become more capable, competent, cost-effective and closer to citizens. Check it out here.

“The eurozone’s trend rate of growth is very low due to poor productivity and dismal demography, so cyclical downturns easily lead to stagnation,” said Philippe Legrain, visiting senior fellow at the London School of Economics. “In addition, monetary policy can’t do much more, while fiscal stimulus is likely to be too little, too late.” Read […]

In Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them, economist and financial journalist Philippe Legrain does a thorough job of debunking the myth that “government workers are ever really in a position to adequately assess which workers the economy needs at any given time.” First, because the market’s needs fluctuate so widely and so quickly, and second, the […]

Does the flagging eurozone need a fiscal boost as well as a monetary one? The debate in policy circles is slowly shifting. I’m quoted right at the start of this excellent analysis piece by Mark John for Reuters. “There is a shift towards talking about stimulus but there is no dramatic leap forward,” said Philippe […]

British democracy was once widely seen as a model for others to follow. But it has now sunk into its deepest crisis in living memory. At stake is not only whether the UK crashes out of the EU without an exit deal, but also how far a country once famed for stability and moderation descends […]

My latest for Project Syndicate

Denmark’s Social Democrats won the election there this month on an anti-immigrant platform. So is immigrant bashing a vote winner for Europe’s beleaguered progressives? Read my latest for Project Syndicate

With the next few months set to be dominated by unseemly haggling over top EU jobs, starting with the presidency of the European Commission, it may feel like business as usual in Brussels. But if you take the longer view, there are good reasons to hope that EU democracy may be evolving in a positive […]

The European Union is increasingly caught between the United States and China. Until it finds a common strategic purpose, the bloc will struggle to advance its interests and is increasingly likely to fall victim to great-power plays. Read my latest column for Project Syndicate. Quoted in the FT Quoted in Belgium’s L’Echo Quoted by Voice […]

I contributed to a symposium published by The International Economy here. “Populist” is often used as a derogatory label for any popular political view that someone deplores. But although populism can take many forms, it has a specific meaning: populists claim to stand up for “the people” (their supporters) against the elites (their opponents, whom […]

On ABC RN’s Sunday Extra with Hugh Riminton on 20 April Listen here.

Despite the huge challenges they face, refugees are the most entrepreneurial migrants in Australia – and are nearly twice as likely to start a business as Australian taxpayers in general. Read my piece in the Guardian to coincide with the publication of my new study for the Centre for Policy Development and OPEN on refugee […]

Greenhouse-gas emissions in the EU actually rose in 2017 – while they fell in Trump’s United States. Read my column for Brussels Times.

Beware enemies hiding in plain sight. The Audi in the driveway and that BMW creeping around the corner are threats to national security. These days, it’s not the reds under the bed Americans need to worry about—it’s the Mercs on the lurk. Read my latest column for Foreign Policy on Trump’s threatened trade war against […]

Is the eurozone heading for recession? How will policymakers react if the slowdown does get worse? And what damage could an economic downturn do to Europe’s already fractious politics? Those pressing questions ought to be at the top of policymakers’ minds in the run-up to the European Parliament elections in May. Read my latest column […]

Yesterday’s rejection of the UK’s EU exit deal was the biggest government defeat ever – on the most important piece of legislation of this parliamentary term and many previous ones. Yet Prime Minister Theresa May has not resigned. The government is almost certain to win this evening’s no-confidence vote tabled by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. […]

Now that the UK government and the EU have finally agreed a Brexit deal, Theresa May must seek Parliament’s approval for it. The battle lines are already drawn. But these do not involve hardline Brexiteers facing off against unreconciled Remainers, or Conservatives against Labour. The big divide is between pragmatists who think that a bad […]

Far from prompting other countries to want to leave, the Brexit shambles is boosting support for the EU. Even far-right nationalists have concluded that EU exit is a dead end. But the EU faces a more insidious threat: that it will disintegrate from within, as nationalists first undermine then seek to take over EU institutions, as I […]