William James Gregory Keegan,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 3 July 1938) is a British journalist and a fiction and non-fiction author. He was Economics Editor of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' from 1977 to 2003, and continues to contribute to the paper as a columnist.

Education and early life

Keegan was educated at

Wimbledon College Wimbledon College is a government-maintained, voluntary-aided, Jesuit Roman Catholic secondary school and sixth form for boys aged 11 to 19 in Wimbledon, London. The college was founded in 1892 "for improvement in living and learning for the g ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. He completed his

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

in the

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as th ...

from 1957 to 1959.

Career

Keegan became a journalist at the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' in 1963; he moved to the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

'' in 1964, then returned for a nine-year spell at the ''Financial Times'' in 1967. He then worked in the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

Economics Intelligence Department, and as assistant to the Bank's Governor, from 1976 to 1977. From 1977 to 2003 he was Economics Editor of ''

''; after reaching the age of 65 he continued there as a Senior Economics Commentator. He has sat on a number of committees and advisory boards, beginning in 1981 on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

Advisory Committee on Business and Industrial Affairs. Keegan has authored two fiction books, in 1974 and 1976, and eight books on economics and politics, between 1978 and 2012. In 1989 he became a visiting professor of journalism at the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

, and in 2012 a visiting professor of economics at

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 ...

. He is also a visiting professor at The Policy Institute,

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, and is involved in The Strand Group seminar series there. In 2009 Keegan received a

for services to journalism. As of 2022, William Keegan is a columnist for ''

''.

Views

In an article in November 2022, Keegan wrote that the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries ...

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 The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

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.Brexit has made Britain the sick man of Europe again
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

. 27 November 2022.

Personal life

Keegan is married to a barrister. They live in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, London. He has seven children, including four from a previous marriage. His brother Victor Keegan was a journalist at ''

'', and a member of the

Scott Trust Scott Trust Limited is the British company that owns Guardian Media Group and thus ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'' as well as various other media businesses in the UK. In 2008, it replaced the Scott Trust, which had owned ''The Guardian'' s ...

which owns the

Guardian Media Group Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is a British-based mass media company owning various media operations including ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer''. The group is wholly owned by the Scott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the financial and e ...

Works

Fiction *''Consulting Father Wintergreen'' (Unknown, 1974). *''A Real Killing'' (St Martins Pr, 1977). Non-Fiction *(with

Rupert Pennant-Rea Rupert Lascelles Pennant-Rea (born 23 January 1948) is a British businessman, journalist, and former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. He was Editor and later Chairman of The Economist Group. Early life The son of Peter Athelwold and Pa ...

), ''Who Runs the Economy? Control and Influence in British Economic Policy'' (London: Temple Smith, 1979). *''Mrs. Thatcher's Economic Experiment'' (London: Allen Lane, 1984; 2nd ed. 1985). *''Britain Without Oil'' (London: Harmondsworth, 1985). *''Mr. Lawson's Gamble'' (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1989). *''The Spectre of Capitalism'' (Radius, 1992). *''2066 and All That: Britain and Europe Sort it Out'' (Iynx Publishing, 2000). *''The Prudence of Mr. Gordon Brown'' (John Wiley & Sons, 2003). *''Saving the World? - Gordon Brown Reconsidered'' (Searching Finance Ltd, 2012). *''Mr Osborne's Economic Experiment'' (Searching Finance Ltd, 2014). *(with David Marsh and Richard Roberts), ''Six Days in September: Black Wednesday, Brexit and the making of Europe'' (OMFIF Press, 2017).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keegan, William James Gregory 1938 births Living people The Observer people British male journalists Journalists from London British economics writers British political writers Writers from London British social commentators Academics of King's College London Academics of Queen Mary University of London Academics of the University of Sheffield People educated at Wimbledon College