Philippe Legrain is a thinker and communicator who also been a senior policy adviser. From February 2011 to February 2014, he was economic adviser to the President of the European Commission and head of the team that provided President Barroso with strategic policy advice in the Bureau of European Policy Advisers. Previously a visiting fellow at the LSE’s European Institute (2007–10) and a senior fellow at the Lisbon Council for Economic Competitiveness and Social Renewal (2010–11), he was also chief economist and then director of policy at Britain in Europe, the pro-European campaign (2002–5). He has a first-class degree in economics and a master’s in politics of the world economy, both from the LSE.

Philippe’s career and interests have a global dimension as well as a European one. They cover trade and globalisation – he was special adviser to World Trade Organisation director-general Mike Moore (2000–1) and before that trade and economics correspondent for The Economist (1997–2000) – and international migration. 

Philippe is also the founder of Open Political Economy Network (OPEN), an international think-tank, as well as an international consultant, commentator and public speaker. He has written for a wide variety of international publications, including the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian and The Times, as well as those affiliated to Project Syndicate, and is a frequent commentator on BBC, Sky and international TV and radio.

Research Interests

Philippe’s research interests centre on European political economy, as well as on migration and globalisation issues.