John Peet

John Peet is a British journalist, author, and the Political Editor at The Economist since July 2015, with special responsibility for covering Britain and the European Union. Prior to this, he was Europe Editor from September 2003, responsible for coverage of the European Union, Russia, Turkey, the Caucasus and the Balkans. Earlier positions at The Economist, since joining in 1986, have included Britain correspondent, Washington, D.C. correspondent, Brussels correspondent and Executive Editor. Before starting his long standing career at The Economist, he was a civil servant, working for the British Treasury and Foreign Office.

John has written several Economist surveys and special reports on subjects including Management Consulting, Health Care, Financial Centres, the American South, Global Finance, E-commerce, Water, Spain, the European Union, European Monetary Union, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, the Future of Europe, Turkey, France and, in October 2015, Britain and Europe. He has also written pamphlets for the Centre for European Reform and has contributed to various books, including The Frontiers of Europe and The Foreign Policy of the European Union(both Brookings Institution). His first book, co-written with Anton La Guardia, entitled Unhappy Union: How the Euro Crisis — and Europe — Can Be Fixed, was published in May 2014 by Profile Books, and received widespread critical acclaim.

He was educated at The Pilgrims’ School, Charterhouse and St John’s College, Cambridge, where he was awarded an academic scholarship. He graduated in 1975 with an MA degree in Economics.