Philippe Legrain

House prices in Australia have soared over the past decade: they are now two-and-a-half times what they were in 2000. While prices dipped a little at the height of the global financial crisis, they have since resumed their onward rise. In fact, they rose a whopping 20% in the 12 months to the end of […]

The Times, 16 June 2010. Adopting Churchill’s plan would benefit wealth creators at the expense of the idle rich

This article appeared in The Times on 16 June 2010. Filling the gaping hole in the Government’s finances is, in George Osborne’s words, the “great national challenge of our generation”. Unwise spending cuts and tax rises could sap economic growth; unfair ones provoke political unrest; inaction a market panic. Faced with a national crisis, who […]

The Guardian, 30 April 2010. The Duke of Westminster will cheer this house price bounce. For most of us it’s divisive and unsustainable

This article appears in today’s Guardian. House prices rose by 10.5% in the 12 months to April. A typical home now costs £167,800, according to Nationwide – more than in August 2008, the month before Lehman Brothers collapsed, credit seized up and the economy fell off a cliff. It’s as if the financial crisis and the worst […]