Alex Brummer

Alex Brummer (born in Brighton, England on 25 May, 1949) is a veteran economic commentator, working as a British journalist, editor, and author. He has been the City Editor of the "Daily Mail" (London) since May 2000, where he writes a daily column on economics and finance.

He also writes the weekly Media Analysis column for the Jewish Chronicle (London) and "The Money" for the New Statesman.

Career

Brummer started his media career at J Walter Thomson and Haymarket Publishing between 1970 and 1972. He then went to work for The Guardian as the Financial Correspondent. He was the main reporter on the fringe banking crisis of 1973/4 and the 1976 sterling crisis. After six years in this position he became the US Financial and Washington Correspondent for the Guardian. His work in this area earned him the 1989 Overseas Press Club award for the best foreign correspondent in the US.

Brummer then took up positions as a Foreign Editor and Financial Editor, and completed his twenty-six year tenure at the Guardian as Associate Editor. He worked as Consultant Editor for the Financial Mail on Sunday between 1999 and 2000 and was voted financial journalist of the year at the British Press Awards. He has been given other awards, notably best City journalist at the 2000 Media Awards.

He is a regular contributor to the Jewish Chronicle. Brummer is a regular speaker and panellist at Jewish events. He has written extensively on the Holocaust, Israeli economy, technology and Middle East policy.

Views

Sterling

On January 6 1999, The Guardian’s then financial editor, Alex Brummer, published an article (infact, a research paper with academic references) on the instability of the pound and its fate.", [ [“The sovereign that never ruled”, by Alex Brummer, The Guardian, 6 January 1999, p.15] ] As he pointed out, the enthusiasm with which the birth of the euro had been greeted on the Continent and in the financial markets evidently was not shared by the British public. But, stressed Brummer, “stability and the pound have not been historically compatible. Far from being the `store of value” — which the currency is meant to be —…the pound has been a dead loss… Winston Churchill’s vainglorious decision to peg the pound to gold at the parity of $4.86 in 1925 was typical. An overvalued currency led to a calamitous decline in exports and a brutal attack on the policy by John Maynard Keynes in his pamphlet, “The Economic Consequences Of Churchill”. In Alex Brummer’s opinion, another error was made in 1945. Victorious Britain claimed a high exchange rate at $4.03 to the pound - one that reflected its expectation of post-war advantage relative to the destroyed economies of Germany and Japan. The result was a decisive devaluation on September 18, 1949, when the value of sterling was cut by 30% to $2.60.The 1949 devaluation proved to be a defining political moment. For much of the next decades a falling pound came to be regarded by politicians as a symbol of economic and political failure... During the past two decades, the pound has lost half its value against the mark. And the Alex Brummer’s conclusion was: “Opposing the euro on rational economic grounds is fair enough. But to suggest that the new currency will be inferior to the pound would be a failure to heed the lessons of Britain’s past”. [ [Green College, Oxford Reuters Foundation Paper No: 213: COMMENTING ON EXCHANGE RATE MOVEMENTS - A case study of the British Media By SERGEY MINAEV, http://wincott.co.uk/Sergeyminaev.pdf] ]

Central Banking

During the 2007 credit crunch and run on Northern Rock building society, Alex Brummer strongly criticised the Bank of England’s monetary policy makers, their appointment process and their performance. Writing in the New Statesman, a weekly magazine, he said that the big difference between the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the British Monetary Policy Committee was that the first two institutions “are dominated by experienced central bankers.” “All those voting on the ECB are central bankers in their own country who are steeped in the history of inflation and monetary doctrine, and they have been remarkably sure-footed in setting a one-size-fits-all interest rate for euroland,” he added. The Bank of England’s approach to making monetary policy and its performance since 1997 has been hailed as a success, said Brummer. But recent rate rises and the promise of more to come have cast a pall over this, and Britain’s borrowers will soon start to feel the pinch.Making the central bank independent and taking politicians out of the rate-setting process was hailed as an “act of genius” but recent performance calls for a reassessment. “Some of the nation's most respected voices, such as DeAnne Julius and Sushil Wadhwani, served only one three-year term because they developed worrying streaks of independence.” Having the central bank target a measure of inflation that excludes house prices is, Brummer said, “bonkers”. The voting system of one person one vote produces “bizarre outcomes” he added, arguing that Mervyn King’s recent loss of a vote had undermined his authority.

Education

Brummer has a degree in economics and politics from the University of Southampton and an MBA from the University of Bradford Management Centre.

Books

*"James Hanson: a Biography" (London: Fourth Estate, 1994)
*"Arnold Weinstock: The Life and Times of Britain's Premier Industrialist" (London: HarperCollinsBusiness, 1998).
*"The Crunch: The Scandals of Northern Rock and the Looming Credit Crisis" (London: Random House Business Books, 2008).

Prizes

*Best Foreign Correspondent in the United States, Overseas Press Club New York (1989).
*Financial Journalist of the Year, British Press Awards (1999).
*Best City Journalist, Media Awards (2000).
*Senior Financial Journalist of the Year, Wincott Prize (2001).
*Newspaper Journalist of the Year, Work Foundation (2002).
*Business Journalist of the Year and Commentator of the Year, World Leadership Forum (2006).

Positions

*Daily Mail City Editor (2000-present)
*The Guardian" (London) Assistant Editor (1998-1999)
* Guardian Financial Editor (1990-1999)
* Guardian Foreign Editor (1989)
* Guardian Washington Bureau Chief (1985-1990)
* Guardian Washington Correspondent (1979-1985).

Online Sources

* [http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/columnists Alex Brummer's Daily Mail columns] (thisismoney.co.uk)
* [http://www.newstatesman.com/writers/alex_brummer Alex Brummer's New Statesman articles]
* Who's Who (London: A & C Black, 2006)
* Debrett's People of Today (London: Debrett's Peerage, 2006)
* [http://www.willingspressguide.co.uk Willings Press Guide] (Cision UK, 2007)

References