He specializes in global and European economic issues, notably globalisation, migration, the post-crisis world and the euro.

They moved to London where Philippe was born and he considers himself British "though cosmopolitan in outlook".

[1] Legrain is the author of four books: Open World: The Truth about Globalisation, which is a counter-argument to Naomi Klein's No Logo; Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them was shortlisted for the 2007 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award; Aftershock: Reshaping the World Economy After the Crisis; and European Spring: Why Our Economies and Politics are in a Mess – and How to Put Them Right, which the Financial Times calls "essential reading".

Before that, Legrain was a visiting fellow at the European Institute of the London School of Economics, a senior fellow at the Lisbon Council for Economic Competitiveness and Social Renewal and a contributing editor to Prospect magazine.

Legrain has also been trade and economics correspondent for The Economist, special adviser to WTO director-general Mike Moore, and chief economist and director of policy for the pro-European pressure group, Britain in Europe.