Philippe Legrain

Two promising #COVID19 vaccines, with immigrants to thank for both. BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine has been developed by a Turkish migrant to Germany. Moderna was co-founded by Canadian biologist and Lebanese-born scientist and investor. So much for nativists who claim immigrants have nothing to contribute. Read my latest for Foreign Policy

Until recently, most policymakers and investors remained complacent about the potential economic impact of the coronavirus crisis. Now they realise that it is generating a global shock, which may be sharp—but which most still expect to be short. But what if the economic disruption has an enduring impact? Could the coronavirus pandemic even be the […]

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 […]

Germany’s economy is doing fine right now and it finally has a new government. So it’s perhaps understandable that it seems content to coast along. Why mess with an ostensibly winning formula? Steady-as-she-goes, business-as-usual Merkelism seems successful and safe. Yet Germany is actually far more vulnerable than it seems. Europe’s export powerhouse has long been […]

Donald Trump thinks that because the US buys more from China than it sells in return, it would easily “win” a trade war. But China’s position is actually much stronger, both economically and politically, than that crude calculus suggests. My latest for Foreign Policy

Read my latest for Foreign Policy Listen to my interview with Hamish Macdonald for ABC Radio National Breakfast Watch my contribution to a panel discussion on Al Jazeera English’s Inside Story

My latest for Foreign Policy

My latest column for Foreign Policy

Refugees are a tiny proportion of the U.S. population — some 3.3 million have been admitted since 1975 — but they have had an outsized impact. Google co-founder Sergey Brin was a child refugee from the Soviet Union; Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is now America’s second-most valuable firm, with a market capitalization of $553 billion. […]

The horrific Paris attacks are shocking and deeply saddening. And when people’s security is threatened, governments sometimes need to curtail our freedom. But the measures taken ought to be targeted, proportionate and effective. Reimposing border controls (which would not have prevented the Paris attacks) and turning away refugees, many of whom are fleeing Islamic State […]

My column for Foreign Policy argues that British exit from the EU is much more likely than people think

My column for Foreign Policy

My column for Foreign Policy

The French and German views of the eurozone are irreconcilable. Rather than press for a fiscal and political union, the eurozone needs to accommodate national differences more. My column for Foreign Policy here

Offer Greece debt relief. My column for Foreign Policy

My column for Foreign Policy

Yes, Greece needs reform, but that isn’t the real issue. If the creditors aren’t willing to be reasonable, default – even euro exit – is preferable to debt bondage. My latest column for Foreign Policy

Politically weak and economically in decline, the EU is fearfully turning inwards. It ought to be looking confidently outwards instead. My column for Brussels Times

Spanish voters are deserting corrupt, incompetent establishment parties. It’s time for a change. My column for Foreign Policy

Britain’s election today is wide open. But whether we end up with a Conservative or Labour-led government, the SNP looks set to be a big winner in the years ahead. My column for Foreign Policy