Liam Halligan

Liam Halligan is a British economist and award-winning print and broadcast journalist.

Education and early career

Halligan holds a First Class (Hons) Degree in Economics from the University of Warwick and an M.Phil (Econ) from Oxford University. As a young academic economist, he held research posts at The International Monetary Fund, The International Food Policy Research Institute, The Social Market Foundation and The London School of Economics. Halliigan's particular areas of interest include emerging markets, UK/Irish politics, commodity markets, pension reform, sovereign wealth funds, the single currency, UK/US monetary policy, African economics, print-broadcast media, global trade patterns and the future shape of the world economy.

In the early 1990s, he moved to Moscow and co-founded Russian Economic Trends – a source of independent data and commentary. During that period, he wrote a column in The Moscow Times and was heavily involved in the Russian government’s attempts to stabilize the country’s nascent post-Communist economy. He went on to cover Russia for "The Economist" and the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Broadcast and print journalism

In 1996, Halligan returned to the UK to become a Political Correspondent at "The Financial Times", based at the House of Commons. Singled out by the Downing Street Press office as “impervious to spin”, he developed a reputation for courageous, non-partisan reporting – as detailed in political memoirs written by, among others, Michael Brunson, Peter Oborne and Alastair Campbell. His FT coverage won him a job at Channel 4 News, where until 2006, he was the programme’s Economics Correspondent.

He has written dozens of articles on economics, politics and international relations for, among others, "The Wall Street Journal", "The Business", "The New Statesman", "Prospect", "House Magazine" and "The Parliamentary Monitor", as well as presenting "Wake up to Money" on BBC Radio 5 Live and researching, writing and presenting a number of "Dispatches" and "30 Minutes" documentaries for Channel 4.

For the last six years, Halligan has written his "Economics Agenda" column in "The Sunday Telegraph". He also writes a regular column on economics and business trends for "GQ magazine".

Awards

Halligan’s "Economics Agenda" column won him recognition as "Workworld Columnist of the Year" and "Business and Finance Journalist of the Year" at the British Press Awards.

Whilst at Channel 4, he received a string of broadcast awards including the World Leadership Forum's "Business Journalist of the Year" award (twice), the coveted "Wincott Award" (three times), the Workworld "TV Programme of the Year" award (four times), and the Bradford & Bingley "Personal Finance Programme of the Year" award.

Business work

Halligan is currently Chief Economist at Prosperity Capital Management, an asset-management firm, with investments worth more than $5bn across Russia and the Former Soviet Union. He is a member of the Society of Business Economists and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce. He has extensive experience hosting discussions/panels on economic, financial and political topics, including dozens of political fringe meetings featuring Cabinet Ministers, leading industrialists and other VIPs, along with numerous “Head-to-Head” economics debates at conferences run by Euromoney.