Alex Brummer - Biography

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 is a regular contributor to the Jewish Chronicle (London), writing the weekly Media Analysis column and extensively on the Holocaust, Israeli economy, technology, and Middle East policy.

Brummer also writes "The Money" article 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.

In 1979 he became the US Financial and Washington Correspondent for the Guardian. He covered the 1980, 1984, and 1988 U.S. presidential elections 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. In 2000 he became the City Editor of the Daily Mail. Brummer covered the 2003 Iraq War for the Daily Mail from Washington, D.C.

Brummer led the Daily Mail's coverage on the 2007 run on Northern Rock, collapse of Lehman Brothers, and subsequent credit crunch.

On 4 February 2009, Brummer appeared as a witness at the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, along with Robert Peston (BBC), Lionel Barber (Financial Times), Simon Jenkins (Guardian), and Sky News Business Editor Jeff Randall to answer questions on the role of the media in financial stability and "whether financial journalists should operate under any form of reporting restrictions during banking crises". He is a member of the editorial advisory board of Jewish Renaissance magazine.

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).
• The Crunch: How Greed and Incompetence Sparked the Credit Crisis (London: Random House Business Books, 2009).
• The Great Pensions Robbery: How the politicians betrayed retirement (London: Random House Business Books, 2011).

Prizes

• Best Foreign Correspondent in the United States, Overseas Press Club (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, World Leadership Forum (2006).
• Commentator of the Year, World Leadership Forum (2006).
• Magazine Commentator of the Year (New Statesman), The Comment Awards (2009).

Positions

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

Online sources

• Alex Brummer's Daily Mail columns (thisismoney.co.uk)
• Alex Brummer's New Statesman articles
• Alex Brummer's Jewish Chronicle Articles
• Who's Who (London: A & C Black, 2006)
• Debrett's People of Today (London: Debrett's Peerage, 2006)
• Willings Press Guide (Cision UK, 2007)