The 36 best European economists to follow on Twitter

Handle: @dkyriakopoulou

Occupation: Senior Economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

Why: Based in London so keeps on top of things in UK markets, but Danae is originally from Greece, so she knows what's up with the country's economy.

Sample tweet:

What's in it for trade in 2016? Interview ahead of my speech at @tfreview @ARKGroupUK Trade Forum w/ @Clarissadann https://t.co/sYv8hWlqWa

— Danae Kyriakopoulou (@DKyriakopoulou) January 20, 2016

Handle: @howardarcheruk

Occupation: Chief European and UK Economist at IHS.

Why: Follows European PMIs and Bank of England interest rates like a hawk.

Sample tweet:

Vlieghe seems to be with Andy Haldane at dovish end of #MPC; although several MPC members are reluctant to hike before pay moves up markedly

— Howard Archer (@HowardArcherUK) January 18, 2016

Handle: @samueltombs

Occupation: Chief Economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Why: You won't miss anything that goes on in the UK labour markets if you follow Tombs.

Sample tweet:

RICS survey points to house price surge in Q1. Could financial stability concerns come back on the Governor's radar? pic.twitter.com/hxInmBmq5N

— Samuel Tombs (@samueltombs) January 21, 2016

Handle: @alasdairmsmith

Occupation: Economist and Chair at the Competitions and Markets Authority.

Why: His job is all about ensuring that there's enough competition in markets in the UK and he uses Twitter to share all his findings, as well as engaging on UK politics.

Sample tweet:

Does @OpenEurope agree with @George_Osborne that Steve Nickell is wrong on migrant benefits? https://t.co/I9lHgT91JT

— Alasdair Smith (@AlasdairMSmith) January 15, 2016

Handle: @markwfranks

Occupation: Chief economist at the Office of Manpower Economics.

Why: Charts, charts, charts. Mostly from the ONS.

Sample tweet:

Newly published findings from a survey by NHS England on the supply of and demand for nurses. https://t.co/thhH508qac

— Mark Franks (@markwfranks) January 8, 2016

Handle: @CJFDillow

Occupation: Marxist economist.

Why: Runs the popular "Stumbling and Mumbling" economics blog, and frequently shares its posts. Provides a fascinating alternative perspective to many mainstream economists.

Sample tweet:

Blogged: Capitalism vs markets: the Bowie case https://t.co/S6ygAsItpV wherein I object to something by @Dannythefink

— Chris Dillow (@CJFDillow) January 13, 2016

Handle: @jonathanalgar

Occupation: Financial Economist.

Why: Former Goldman analyst, follows the eurozone mercilessly. Spends lots of time in Lisbon, so provides great English language insights into the Portuguese economy.

Sample tweet:

The "keep calm and have another summit" tradition of 2015 is alive & well in 2016 *JUNCKER RECOMMENDS FURTHER SUMMIT ON REFUGEE CRISIS: BBG

— Jonathan Algar (@jonathanalgar) January 20, 2016

Handle: @erikfossing

Occupation: Group Chief Economist at UniCredit.

Why: He's Danish and provides a great perspective on Scandinvian issues.

Sample tweet:

Carney happy about weaker pound, no doubt. https://t.co/70g8lucWS4

— Erik Fossing Nielsen (@ErikFossing) January 17, 2016

Handle: @Barker4Kate

Occupation: Economist, former member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee.

Why: Tweets with a focus on the UK housing market and what the Bank of England is up to. If you like football, she's also a big Stoke City fan, and frequently tweets their fortunes.

Sample tweet:

Good debate on uk economy from @NevilleHill and Martin Beck at Society of Business Economists - do we need new monetary policy target?

— Kate Barker (@Barker4Kate) January 12, 2016

Handle: @gabrielsterne

Occupation: Economist at Oxford Economics.

Why: All of the charts, all of the time.

Sample tweet:

Clip Bank of England independence! My suggestion for @D_Blanchflower review of MPC. pic.twitter.com/TogVBCoheL

— Gabriel Sterne (@GabrielSterne) January 15, 2016

Handle: @DanielaGabor

Occupation: Associate Professor of Economics at University of the West of England, and blogger.

Why: Tweets fascinating research into global central banks, shadow banking, and more.

Sample tweet:

+1. #Brexit to escape Brussels bureaucrats would force UK into decade long negotiation with said bureaucrats https://t.co/Dq63rLMmsi

— Daniela Gabor (@DanielaGabor) January 13, 2016

Handle: @MxSba

Occupation: Eurozone Economist at Bloomberg.

Why: Working for Bloomberg gives him access to more data than most. Uses it to his advantage to share excellent charts several times a day.

Sample tweet:

#Draghi to Break Silence, #ECB to Wait for Spring Be ready for Thursday, read my preview: https://t.co/OHePylKSpP pic.twitter.com/X2EMSXygFM

— Maxime Sbaihi (@MxSba) January 19, 2016

Handle: @pauldiggle

Occupation: Economist at Aberdeen Asset Management.

Why: Excellent, pithy observations about the state of the markets, and the occasional great chart.

Sample tweet:

Laughing at the notes saying China GDP of 6.8% slight disappointment relative to 6.9% consensus - when true growth is sub-5%!

— Paul Diggle (@pauldiggle) January 19, 2016

Handle: @alexapostolides

Occupation: Economic Historian at the European University of Cyprus, and Member of the National Economic Council of Cyprus.

Why: Keeps a close eye on everything going on in southern Europe, especially his often ignored homeland, Cyprus, and will keep you updated.

Sample tweet:

Amazed at level of worry of Turkish Cypriot economy when our NPLs are at 50%. Lets fix our first; @D_Georgiades fiscal council shows the way

— alexapostolides (@alexapostolides) January 17, 2016

Handle: @davidjpowell24

Occupation: Chief Euro-area economist at Bloomberg LP, and author.

Why: Few people will give you better insights on whats going down in the Eurozone. Uses his Bloomberg terminal to tweet out awesome charts.

Sample tweet:

#ECB helping in France, Italy & Spain - their contributions driving credit improvement. See: https://t.co/KK4PXvVYPn pic.twitter.com/fj6m4CWvXE

— David Powell (@davidjpowell24) January 14, 2016

Handle: @ojblanchard1

Occupation: French former IMF Chief Economist, now doing some work for the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Why: Another economist new to Twitter, he sent his first tweet last Sunday. But as the former IMF chief economist, it's safe to say that Blanchard knows what he's talking about!

Sample tweet:

My first tweet... Trying to make sense of the latest stock market slump https://t.co/AbIsv3KnMT

— Olivier Blanchard (@ojblanchard1) January 17, 2016

Handle: @eurobriefing

Occupation: Director of Euro Intelligence, columnist for the FT and others.

Why: News, news, news. He'll tell you exactly what you need to know in Europe, in a quick, accessible manner.

Sample tweet:

Italy's political class is becoming more agitated about German economic domination of the eurozone - https://t.co/VKWTz4IeXi

— Wolfgang Munchau (@EuroBriefing) January 14, 2016

Handle: @nicolas_veron

Occupation: Co-founder of economic think-tank Bruegel.

Why: Splits his time across both side of the Atlantic so can provide an American and European perspective. When he's in Europe, he's all about smaller Eurozone economies like Portugal and Cyprus.

Sample tweet:

The good news in Italy is that most banks there are probably sound. Like Spain 2012, not Ireland 2010. What's needed is proper triage.

— Nicolas Veron (@nicolas_veron) January 21, 2016

Handle: @PikettyLeMonde

Occupation: French economist, writer of one of the 21st century's most read books on economics, Capital in the Twenty-First Century.

Why: Piketty is pretty new to Twitter, only sending his first tweet in November 2015, but he shares great extracts from his blog, so is worth a follow.

N.B Sometimes tweets in French.

Sample tweet:

Change Europe, now https://t.co/gdP4mTwgVM

— Thomas Piketty (@PikettyLeMonde) December 22, 2015

Handle: @adairturneruk

Occupation: Chairman of the Institute for New Economic Thinking.

Why: The former UK Financial Services Authority chairman is pretty new to Twitter, and doesn't tweet all that much, but what he does tweet is always hugely informative.

Sample tweet:

implies QE will only work if it is permanent money finance ? https://t.co/ZwxgHmXIzQ

— Adair Turner (@AdairTurnerUK) November 3, 2015

Handle: @fwred

Occupation: Senior economist for Credit Agricole.

Why: He provides live commentary and analysis on events in the eurozone. Sometimes will tweet out his research notes.

Sample tweet:

My long-time favourite chart on € credit, still very bullish. Credit demand expected to rise further. pic.twitter.com/9eyGxLpYcp

— Frederik Ducrozet (@fwred) January 19, 2016

Handle: @diane1859

Occupation: Professor of Economics, University of Manchester.

Why: At least ten tweets a day on everything from the economic benefits of gender diversity in tech, all the way to economic models in the developing world.

Sample tweet:

The dark art of measuring the digital economy https://t.co/90jtRNDQHu

— Diane Coyle (@diane1859) January 17, 2016

Handle: @jamesrsproule

Occupation: Chief Economist at the Institute of Directors.

Why: Provides opinions on the UK economy from a business point of view. Often shares great charts.

Sample tweet:

Is QE the modern equivalent of Roman debasement of its currency?

— James Sproule (@jamesrsproule) January 19, 2016

Handle: @johnvanreenen

Occupation: Director at LSE's Centre for Economic Performance.

Why: Tweets about great research from the London School of Economics and others on everything from climate change to happiness.

Sample tweet:

2m EU citizens work in UK (see @ONS new graph from today) What will happens to them after #Brexit? pic.twitter.com/AOmPXkeEJa

— John Van Reenen (@johnvanreenen) January 20, 2016

Handle: @d_blanchflower

Occupation: Economist and professor at Dartmouth University.

Why: US-based, but he's a former member of the Bank of England's MPC and very critical of the current UK government.

Sample tweet:

GBP down from $1.56 in August to $1.41 today - why isn't 10% drop a currency crisis?

— Danny Blanchflower (@D_Blanchflower) January 20, 2016

Handle: @ProfSteveKeen

Occupation: Head of Economics, Politics and History at Kingston University.

Why: He's a frequent sharer of other tweeters content, but always manages to add value, and his criticisms of neoclassical economics are always great to read.

Sample tweet:

Absolutely! Artificial shortages caused by ignorance in high places. https://t.co/YBprSWFpxu

— Steve Keen (@ProfSteveKeen) January 19, 2016

Handle: @jdportes

Occupation: Works at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

Why: Lots of tweets about the economics of immigration and migration, plus other UK demographic issues.

Sample tweet:

Impact of Osborne Budget/AS highly regressive. Poorest hit most, rich hardly at all https://t.co/qZziOMFjZZ

— Jonathan Portes (@jdportes) January 20, 2016

Handle: @davidmcw

Occupation: Economist, broadcaster and author.

Why: He's a shrewd operator on everything from the oil price to the economics of Ancient Egypt. McWilliams also frequently tweets about the economics of football, so he's a good follow if you're a sports fan.

Sample tweet:

Was talking to Man U fan on oil price collapse & Arab power, all she wanted to know was, will Man City implode without Arab money?? Article?

— David McWilliams (@davidmcw) January 10, 2016

Handle: @williamsonchris

Occupation: Chief Economist at Markit.

Why: Shares a bunch of great charts on UK, Eurozone, and Global PMI data, as well as other economic indicators.

Sample tweet:

Recent solid #Euro zone PMI activity index prescribes neutral #ECB policy stance pic.twitter.com/opWYN4EQvY

— Chris Williamson (@WilliamsonChris) January 21, 2016

Handle: @baptist_simon

Occupation: Chief Economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Why: Europe based, but with a global perspective. Tweets on issues from Indonesian forex reserves all the way to the economic effects of a snap election in Vanuatu.

Sample tweet:

If you like moving charts, you should check out our #Australia analyst https://t.co/LBcMXsDTOs

— Simon Baptist EIU (@baptist_simon) December 14, 2015

Handle: @KingEconomist

Occupation: Former Chief Economist at HSBC, now in a senior advisory role.

Why: London based, but with a global perspective. One of the few big bank economists to actually tweet on a regular basis. He now works a three-day week so has lots of time to tweet!

Sample tweet:

Why falling oil prices are a sign of China-led malaise for the global economy. Me in the FT: https://t.co/v4QA8oDghJ

— Stephen King (@KingEconomist) January 8, 2016

Handle: @georgemagnus1

Occupation: Economic thinker, commentator, and consultant.

Why: Former chief economist at UBS so knows his stuff. Spends alot of time talking about China, also tweets about Liverpool FC.

Sample tweet:

Let me guess. They go to work and increase labour supply. 10/10 https://t.co/uFSR0qEvsd

— George Magnus (@georgemagnus1) January 20, 2016

Handle: @asentance

Occupation: Business economist at PwC.

Why: Former Bank of England monetary policy committee member so he knows his stuff about the UK economy. Plus, he writes songs about economics!

Sample tweet:

Stock market turmoil shouldn't derail UK recovery. Latest @PwC_UK economics blog by my colleague John Hawksworth: https://t.co/9reBmysnZW

— Andrew Sentance (@asentance) January 19, 2016

Handle: @Lagarde

Occupation: Head of the IMF.

Why: One of the most powerful economic figures in the world. Lagarde shares details of where and when she's speaking, as well as IMF research into global economy.

Sample tweet:

Thanks to my Cameroonian hosts as I depart Africa! pic.twitter.com/MhWFZYOSwW

— Christine Lagarde (@Lagarde) January 9, 2016

Handle: @yanisvaroufakis

Occupation: Economist and former Greek Finance Minister.

Why: Varoufakis doesn't wield quite as much power now he's no longer in the Greek hot seat, but he's still pretty active on Twitter, frequently criticising Europe's "inane handling of an inevitable crisis."

Sample tweet:

On Spain, Greece, Italy and our plans for a European movement to democratise the EU – Interview: L’Espresso https://t.co/3eVM30Jd31

— Yanis Varoufakis (@yanisvaroufakis) December 23, 2015