Philippe Legrain – författare

Globalisation is one of the most controversial issues in the world today. While protestors take to the streets at international summits, it is becoming conventional wisdom that companies are taking over the world, that governments' ability to tax, spend and regulate is under threat from global competition, that globalisation harms the poor and that democracy is at risk.Not so. This tightly argued and fiercely intelligent book demolishes some of these myths and shows how, without globalisation, the poor are never going to get richer. It is simply the only way to give governments the means to combat poverty: money for schools, hospitals and welfare. Focusing on the history of world trade as well as topical issues such as the power of corporations, whether globalisation is bad for poor countries, whether it threatens the environment and Americanises indigenous cultures, Philippe Legrain shows why elected governments are still very much in control and why a more open world offers greater opportunity for everyone, rich and poor, to better their lives.

Immigration divides our globalising world like no other issue. We are swamped by bogus asylum-seekers and infiltrated by terrorists, our jobs stolen, our benefit system abused, our way of life destroyed - or so we are told. Philippe Legrain, author of the critically acclaimed OPEN WORLD, has written the first book that looks beyond the headlines. Why are ever-rising numbers of people from poor countries arriving in Europe, North America and Australasia? Can we keep them out? Should we even be trying? Combining compelling first-hand reporting from around the world, incisive socio-economic analysis and a broad understanding of what is at stake politically and culturally, IMMIGRANTS is a passionate, but lucid book. In our open world, more people will inevitably move across borders, Legrain says - and we should generally welcome them. They do the jobs we can't or won't do - and their diversity enriches us all. Left and right; free-marketeers and campaigners for global justice; enlightened patriots - all should rally behind the cause of freer migration, because They need Us and We need Them.

The financial crisis brought the world to the brink. But now bankers' bonuses are back, house prices are rising again and politicians promise recovery. Is this really sustainable - or do we need to change course?In this incisive assessment of the post-crisis world, Philippe Legrain looks at what went wrong, and how the world's leaders and financial institutions can learn from their disastrous mistakes. Reporting first-hand from across the globe he sets out the huge dangers ahead - and the opportunities to craft a fairer, safer, richer and greener world. Wide-ranging, brilliant and impassioned, AFTERSHOCK it is at once a warning from history and a compelling call to arms for the future.