Sir Samuel Brittan (29 December 1933 – 12 October 2020) was an English journalist and author. He was the first economics correspondent for theFinancial Times, and later a long-time columnist. He was a member of the Academic Advisory Council of theGlobal Warming Policy Foundation.^[1][2]

Samuel Brittan was born inLondon to Rebecca (Lipetz) and Joseph Brittan, a doctor. His parents wereLithuanian Jews who had migrated to Britain beforeWorld War II. He was the elder brother ofLeon Brittan, who wasHome Secretary underMargaret Thatcher.^[3]Malcolm Rifkind, his cousin, was theSecretary of State for Scotland, also inside the Margaret Thatcher government.^[4]

Brittan was educated atKilburn Grammar School,^[5] a former state grammar school inKilburn in theLondon Borough of Brent in north-west London, followed byJesus College, Cambridge, where he was taught byPeter Bauer in his first year,Milton Friedman in his second year, andHarry Gordon Johnson in his third year. Brittan gained a first class degree.^[6]

Brittan wrote of being supervised by Johnson:

In my third year I was supervised by Harry Johnson, who was a genuine prodigy – on the surface flashy and Americanized – and not yet the feared economic personality he later became. He was the supervisor from whom I probably derived the most benefit.^[7]

On his relationship with Friedman at Cambridge Brittan said that he "proved a charming person; but at first I did not like being tutored by a far-out Republican and missing the true Cambridge Keynesian wisdom"^[7] – recalling how the American economist dealt him "one of best put-down remarks I have ever encountered":

[Friedman] mentioned to me a letter he had received fromArthur Burns saying thatEisenhower was turning out well as President. I expressed surprise, to which Friedman responded: "First, Burns has much better knowledge of Eisenhower. Second, given equal knowledge I would prefer his opinion to yours."Against The Flow (2005)

In 1961, Brittan was appointed economics editor atThe Observer until 1964 and in 1965 was appointed as an advisor at theDepartment of Economic Affairs. Then in 1966 he was appointed as an economic commentator at theFinancial Times.

In March 1981, when 364 leading economists wrote a letter toThe Times criticisingMargaret Thatcher's economic policy, Brittan was one of the few commentators to openly defend theConservative government's policy. He was a member of thePeacock Committee on the Finance of theBBC from 1985 to 1986.

Brittan received an Honorary Doctorate fromHeriot-Watt University in 1985^[8]

Brittan was awarded theOrwell, SeniorHarold Wincott andLudwig Erhard prizes. In 1993, Brittan was knighted 'for services to economic journalism'. He was the brother ofLeon Brittan, who served as Thatcher's Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Home Secretary and President of the Board of Trade, and then as a European Commissioner. He and Leon were cousins ofMalcolm Rifkind, who served as Scottish Secretary, Transport Secretary, Defence Secretary and Foreign Secretary under Thatcher and John Major; all three were cousins once removed of producerMark Ronson. Brittan was awarded an honorary doctorate by theUniversity of Essex in 1994.^{[citation needed]}

Brittan was a supporter of theland value tax ideas ofHenry George.^[9]

Brittan stated that he was always an "individualist liberal".^[5]

Brittan died on 12 October 2020 at the age of 86.^[10]

• Samuel Brittan,The Treasury under the Tories, 1951–64 (Secker & Warburg, 1964).
• Samuel Brittan,Left or Right: The Bogus dilemma (Secker & Warburg, 1968).
• Samuel Brittan,Capitalism and the Permissive Society (Macmillan, 1973).
• Samuel Brittan,The Economic Consequences of Democracy (Temple Smith, 1977).
• Samuel Brittan,A Restatement of Economic Liberalism (Macmillan, 1988).
• Samuel Brittan,Capitalism With A Human Face (Edward Elgar, 1995).
• Samuel Brittan,Essays, Moral, Political and Economic (Edinburgh University Press, 1998).
• Samuel Brittan,Against The Flow (Grove Atlantic Ltd., 2005).

• Samuel Brittan's homepage
• Brittan at the FT