David Anthony Currie, Baron Currie of Marylebone (born 9 December 1946) is a British economist specialising in regulation, and a
cross-bench member of the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
. Currie was the inaugural Chairman of the
Competition and Markets Authority
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the competition regulator in United Kingdom. It is a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom, responsible for strengthening business competition and preventing and reducing anti-com ...
(CMA).
Education and career
Currie was born in
Streatham
Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth.
Streatham was in Surrey ...
, south London, and attended
Battersea Grammar School. He obtained a first class degree in mathematics at
Manchester University
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
and a master's degree in National Economic Planning at
Birmingham University
, mottoeng = Through efforts to heights
, established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
, after which he obtained a post as an economist with
Hoare Govett
The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) ...
. He took a position in 1972 as a lecturer at
Queen Mary College
, mottoeng = With united powers
, established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College
, type = Public researc ...
,
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
, and progressed to an appointment as Professor of Economics. After that he spent 12 years at the
London Business School
London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degrees in management and finance, MBA and PhD). Its motto is " ...
, and was appointed as Professor of Economics in 1988.
[Award of an honorary doctorate by City University, London]
oration
/ref>
In 1992, Currie became one of the 'six wise men' advising the Conservative Government's Treasury Department on economic matters as a member of the Treasury's ''Panel of Independent Forecasters'', where he remained for three years. Currie was a director and the Chairman of the executive committee of the pressure group Charter88
Charter 88 was a British pressure group that advocated constitutional and electoral reform and owes its origins to the lack of a written constitution. It began as a special edition of the ''New Statesman'' magazine in 1988 and it took its name ...
from 1993 to 1997. On 1 October 1996 he was made a life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...
and sits as a cross-bench member of the House of Lords. His title was gazetted ''Baron Currie of Marylebone, of Marylebone in the City of Westminster''.[The Peerag]
Professor David Anthony Currie, Baron Currie of Marylebone
/ref>
Cass Business School
In 2001, Currie was appointed Dean of the City University's business school
A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, school of business administration, o ...
. He secured a donation from the Sir John Cass Foundation and the following year the school changed its name to the Sir John Cass Business School, moved to larger premises, invested in new facilities and recruited academic staff to provide the new expanded programmes.
Ofcom
In July 2002 the Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell
Tessa Jane Helen Douglas Jowell, Baroness Jowell, (; 18 September 1947 – 12 May 2018) was a British Labour Party politician and life peer who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dulwich and West Norwood, previously Dulwich, from ...
, appointed Currie to be the first Chairman of the newly created Office of Communications, Ofcom, which combined the responsibilities of five different previously existing regulators:
*the Broadcasting Standards Commission,
*the Independent Television Commission
The Independent Television Commission (ITC) licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom (except S4C in Wales) between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003.
History
The creation of ITC, by the Broadcasting Act ...
,
*the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel),
*the Radio Authority, and
*the Radiocommunications Agency.
Currie compared regulators to drains: "''If you notice them, then there is a problem''".
Jowell renewed his appointment in 2007 for a further two years. Currie's achievements during his chairmanship include the telecoms strategic review which led to the rapid unbundling of BT phone lines and using the open market to allocate spectrum via auctioning. In October 2004, when delivering the Fleming Memorial Lecture to the Royal Television Society, Currie warned UK broadcasters they faced a "volcanic eruption" of new technology which would bring "with it an unprecedented challenge for traditional linear television broadcasting". In 2009 Currie's extended term came to an end, and he was succeeded by Colette Bowe
Dame Mary Colette Bowe (born 1946) is an English entrepreneur and former civil servant.
Born in Liverpool, Bowe has a PhD in economics from Queen Mary University of London. In her executive career, she was in the UK civil service from 1975 to ...
.
Other roles
Currie was a member of the board of the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority from 2000 until 2002. Currie has served as a Director of the Dubai Financial Services Authority
The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) is the financial regulatory agency of the special economic zone, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), In Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is distinct from the UAE's federal Securities and Co ...
since 2004. In 2011, he published a report into reforms of certain aspects of procurement of equipment for the UK's Ministry of Defence. The proposals were used as the basis for Part 2 of the Defence Reform Act 2014
The Defence Reform Act 2014 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerned with defence procurement and the UK Reserve Forces, particularly the Territorial Army. It has 51 sections and seven schedules.
Part 1 of the Act relates t ...
. Following the News International phone hacking scandal
The News International phone hacking scandal was a controversy involving the now-defunct ''News of the World'' and other British newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch. Employees of the newspaper were accused of engaging in phone hacking, police b ...
, Currie was appointed on 20 July 2011 to the advisory panel of the Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press. Currie has formerly served on the boards of Abbey National (2001–2002), BDO International
BDO (an acronym for Binder Dijker Otte) is an international network of public accounting, tax, consulting and business advisory firms that provide professional services under the name BDO. It is the fifth-largest accounting network in the wor ...
(2008–2012), Royal Mail (2009–2012), IG Group
IG Group is an online trading provider with 290,000 active traders, offering access to spread betting and CFD trading, which allow traders to bet on the direction of equities, bonds and currencies without owning the underlying assets. Establis ...
(2010–2012), and as Chairman of Semperian
Semperian is an investment fund based in Jersey. It holds investments in 92 Private finance initiative projects.
It was formerly part of Telereal Trillium
Telereal Trillium Ltd is a commercial property management, development and investment c ...
(2008–2012), as well as the London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...
(2007–2012) and the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust
{{Use British English, date=January 2018
The four Rowntree Trusts are funded from the legacies of the Quaker chocolate entrepreneurs and social reformers Joseph Rowntree and
Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree. The trusts are based in the Rowntrees' home ...
(1989–2002).
Currie is currently a Board members of the Institute for Government
The Institute for Government (IfG) is a British independent think tank which aims to improve government effectiveness through research and analysis. Based at 2 Carlton Gardens in central London and founded as a charity in 2008, it was initially ...
and the Chair of Council of the University of Essex
The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the ancient arms attributed to the Kingdom of Es ...
.
Competition and Markets Authority
In July 2012 Currie was appointed as chairman-designate of the Competition and Markets Authority
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the competition regulator in United Kingdom. It is a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom, responsible for strengthening business competition and preventing and reducing anti-com ...
(CMA). which began operation on 1 April 2014. He set out his concept for the Authority in a lecture to the Law Society in November 2012. He stepped down from all of his UK-based commercial directorships in 2012 to avoid conflicts of interest, taking a yearly salary from the CMA of between £180,000 and £184,999, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector as of September 2015.
Personal life
Currie was made an honorary fellow of Queen Mary University of London
, mottoeng = With united powers
, established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College
, type = Public researc ...
in 1997, and awarded an honorary DLitt by the University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
in 1998, an honorary DSc by City University in 2012, and an honorary doctorate from University of Essex
The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the ancient arms attributed to the Kingdom of Es ...
in 2014.
Publications
Currie has been author, joint author or editor of several publications on economic policies and systems:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
References
External links
How OFCOM is run
The international Centre for Financial Regulation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Currie, David
1946 births
Living people
Alumni of University of London Worldwide
Currie of Marylebone
Alumni of the University of Manchester
People from Streatham
Academics of City, University of London
Alumni of the University of Birmingham
Academics of London Business School
Academics of Queen Mary University of London
Academics of Bayes Business School
People educated at Battersea Grammar School