Philippe Legrain (Twitter: @plegrain) is a critically acclaimed thinker and communicator who has also been a senior policymaker. A visiting senior fellow at the London School of Economics’ European Institute, his latest book, European Spring: Why Our Economies and Politics are in a Mess – and How to Put Them Right(2014), has been described as “essential reading” by the Financial Times and was one of its Best Books of 2014. From 2011 to 2014, he was an economic adviser to the President of the European Commission and head of the team providing President Barroso with strategic policy advice. A columnist for Project Syndicate and Foreign Policy, commentator for many other international publications and media outlets, and public speaker around the world, he is now setting up OPEN: the Open Political Economy Network, a platform for progress on openness issues.

Previously chief economist and director of policy of Britain in Europe, special adviser to World Trade Organisation director-general Mike Moore and trade and economics correspondent for the Economist, Philippe has a first-class honours degree in economics and a master’s in politics of the world economy, both from LSE. He is also the author of Open World: The Truth About Globalisation (2002); Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them (2007), which was shortlisted for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year; and Aftershock: Reshaping the World Economy After the Crisis (2010).