Philippe Legrain

I have added the web site of Philippe Legrain to the side-bar on the right. Philippe is a young economist whom I first corresponded with some years ago after the anti-globalisation riots in Seattle. He has written widely on trade and globalisation, having been special adviser to Mike Moore during Moore's tenure as director-general of the World Trade Organization. Like Moore, a combative trade unionist and former Labour prime minister of New Zealand, Philippe believes - in the words of his excellent book Open World - "globalisation offers a richer life - in the broadest sense - for people in rich countries and the only realistic route out of poverty for the world's poor". He is also an advocate of greater European integration, having been Chief Economist for the ill-fated Britain in Europe campaign.

Philippe's web site carries a number of his articles on these and other subjects, including the monthly column on business, finance and economics that he writes for Prospect magazine. He has also lately added a blog. It makes excellent reading and is well worth following.