William Keegan

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William James Gregory Keegan, CBE (born 3 July 1938) is a British journalist and a fiction and non-fiction author. He was economics editor of The Observer from 1977 to 2003, and continues to contribute to the paper as a columnist.

Contents

Education and early life

Keegan was educated at Wimbledon College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He completed his national service in the Royal Tank Regiment from 1957 to 1959. [1]

Career

Keegan became a journalist at the Financial Times in 1963; he moved to the Daily Mail in 1964, then returned for a nine-year spell at the Financial Times in 1967. He then worked in the Bank of England Economics Intelligence Department, and as assistant to the Bank's Governor, from 1976 to 1977. [1] [2]

From 1977 to 2003 he was economics editor of The Observer ; after reaching the age of 65 he continued there as a Senior Economics Commentator. [1]

He has sat on a number of committees and advisory boards, beginning in 1981 on the BBC Advisory Committee on Business and Industrial Affairs. [1] Keegan has authored two fiction books, in 1974 and 1976, and eight books on economics and politics, between 1978 and 2012. [1]

In 1989 he became a visiting professor of journalism at the University of Sheffield, and in 2012 a visiting professor of economics at Queen Mary University of London. [1] He is also a visiting professor at the Policy Institute, King's College London, [3] and is involved in The Strand Group seminar series there. [4]

In 2009 Keegan received a CBE for services to journalism. [5]

As of 2024, William Keegan is a columnist for The Observer . [6]

Views

In an article in November 2022, Keegan wrote that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development states of "20 leading economies, only Russia is performing worse than the UK." In Keegan's opinion the UK was known as the "sick man of Europe" before joining the European Union and is known that way again after leaving the EU. Keegan wrote that Brexit was not the cause of all the UK's problems, but Brexit has magnified them. [7] In March 2024, he wrote in favour of the UK re-joining the EU. [8]

Personal life

Keegan is married to a barrister. They live in Islington, London. He has seven children, including four from a previous marriage. [5]

His brother Victor Keegan was a journalist at The Guardian , and a member of the Scott Trust which owns the Guardian Media Group. [5]

Works

Fiction

Non-Fiction

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "William James Gregory KEEGAN". People of Today. Debrett's. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  2. ↑ "Keegan, William (James Gregory)". Writers Directory 2005. Highbeam. 2004. Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  3. ↑ "Keegan CBE, William". King's College London. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  4. ↑ "Strand Group". King's College London. 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 Peter Gruner (6 March 2009). "'Your Majesty, I'm one of those writers'". Islington Tribune. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  6. ↑ "William Keegan". The Guardian.
  7. ↑ Brexit has made Britain the sick man of Europe again The Guardian. 27 November 2022.
  8. ↑ Keegan, William (17 March 2024). "Britain doesn't need 'reform'. It just needs to rejoin the EU". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 17 March 2024.
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