Laurence Boone

Laurence Boone
Boone in 2023
Secretary of State for European Affairs
In office
26 July 2022 – 11 January 2024
PresidentEmmanuel Macron
Prime MinisterÉlisabeth Borne
Preceded byClément Beaune
Succeeded byJean-Noël Barrot
Chief economist of the OECD
In office
24 July 2018 – 23 July 2022
Preceded byCatherine L. Mann
Succeeded byClare Lombardelli
Personal details
Born (1969-05-15) 15 May 1969 (age 55)
Boulogne-Billancourt, France
SpouseXavier Faure
Children2
Alma materParis Nanterre University
London Business School
University of Reading
OccupationAdvisor
Economist

Laurence Boone (born 15 May 1969) is a French economist who served as the Secretary of State for European affairs in the government of Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne from 2022 to 2024.[1][2]

Boone’s fields of interest include macroeconomics, European politics and public finance. She served as an economic advisor to President François Hollande between July 2014 and March 2016.

Early life and education

Boone was born in 1969 in a family with distant Flemish origins. Her father was an engineer. She attended the school institutions of Notre-Dame-de-Sion, La Bruyère-Sainte-Cécile and École du Sacré-Cœur.[3]

Boone earned an MAS in modelization and quantitative analysis from Paris X-Nanterre University, a PhD in economics from London Business School, and a master's degree in econometrics from the University of Reading.[4]

Career

Early beginnings

Boone started her career as an analyst at Merrill Lynch Asset Management (1995–6). She was a researcher at the Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales (CEPII) from 1996 to 1998, then an economist at the department of Economic Affairs of the OECD from 1998 to 2004. In 2004, she joined Barclays Capital France as a chief economist.[5]

In 2011, Boone became the Europe chief economist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch.[6] A member of the Cercle des économistes,[7] Boone authored numerous books and publications. She taught at Sciences Po, École Polytechnique, ENSAE and ENS Cachan. She was also a member of the jury of the École nationale d'administration competitive exam.

In 2014, Boone started editing chronicles for the L'Opinion daily.[5]

Career in politics

In July 2014, Boone was appointed a financial and economic advisor to the Élysée Palace.[8] The announcement of her nomination to President François Hollande was made in early June 2014[4] as an anticipation of Emmanuel Macron's resignation.[9] L'Opinion then highlighted one of her recent chronicles in which she criticized "disastrous economic results" and the government's "almost nonexistent choices of economic policy".[10] The announcement of her nomination also sparked harsh comments, like the one of Slate's Éric Dupin [fr]: "the world of finance that governs without ever having been elected"[11] —which is a reference to François Hollande's 22 January 2012 speech in Le Bourget. Minister of Finance and the Public Accounts Michel Sapin replied: "Competences are back."[12] The coincidence of the nomination and David Azéma being hired by Bank of America in July 2014 sparked comments about a "shameless revolving door between Bank of America and the socialist power" (Laurent Mauduit [fr]).[13]

On 26 December 2014 Boone's position was named "special advisor for multilateral and European economic and financial affairs", sherpa of François Hollande, as a part of a series of decisions made to "simplify" his cabinet.[14] During the Greek government-debt crisis, she contributed to convince the French President to keep Greece in the Eurozone.[15] She was also considered one of the most prominent European economists advocating for a serious democratic overhaul of the eurozone institutions.[16]

Boone took part in the 2015 Bilderberg Conference.[17][18]

Return to the private sector

Boone's resignation on 14 March 2016[19] to join AXA as a chief economist was announced in January of the same year. In this capacity, she worked under the leadership of the company's CEO Thomas Buberl.[20][21][22][23]

OECD

On 5 June 2018 Boone was appointed as chief economist of the OECD, as a replacement to Catherine L. Mann. She took office on 24 July 2018, working under the leadership of secretary general José Ángel Gurría.[24]

In June 2021, Boone was also appointed to the World Bank–International Monetary Fund High-Level Advisory Group (HLAG) on Sustainable and Inclusive Recovery and Growth, co-chaired by Mari Pangestu, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, and Nicholas Stern.[25]

In January 2022, Boone was appointed as Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD, serving alongside Kerri-Ann Jones and Ulrik Knudsen under secretary general Mathias Cormann.[26]

Other activities

Corporate boards

Non-profit organizations

Personal life

Boone is married to Polytechnician Xavier Faure,[3] and mother of two children.[5]

References

  1. ^ Peter O'Brien (4 July 2022), Macron braces for tough second term with Cabinet reshuffle Politico Europe.
  2. ^ Victor Goury-Laffont (8 February 2024), Macron completes painstaking reshuffle with EU affairs, health, energy appointments Politico Europe.
  3. ^ a b David Fontaine (June 25, 2014). "Laurence Boone: en tailleur Channel". Le Canard enchaîné (in French). p. 7.
  4. ^ a b Emmanuel Jarry; Jean-Baptiste Vey (June 10, 2014). "Laurence Boone, nouveau conseiller économique à l'Élysée" (in French). Reuters. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  5. ^ a b c Marie Visot (June 11, 2014). "Laurence Boone, une forte tête à l'Élysée". Le Figaro (in French). p. 38.
  6. ^ Michel Rose (5 June 2018), OECD names ex-Hollande adviser Laurence Boone as chief economist Reuters.
  7. ^ "Laurence Boone". Le Cercle des économistes (in French). Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  8. ^ Arrêté du 12 juillet 2014 portant nomination à la présidence de la République
  9. ^ "Hollande remanie l'Élysée et recrute Laurence Boone". Le Point (in French). June 10, 2014. Retrieved June 10, 2014..
  10. ^ "Laurence Boone, une chroniqueuse de l'Opinion nommée à l'Elysée". L'Opinion (in French). 2014-05-26. Retrieved 2016-08-03.
  11. ^ Éric Dupin (June 12, 2014). "Le "remaniement" de l'Elysée est la preuve que voter ne sert à rien". www.slate.fr (in French). Retrieved July 15, 2014.
  12. ^ "La nouvelle conseillère économique de Hollande répond aux critiques". Le Figaro (in French). June 12, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  13. ^ Laurent Mauduit (June 13, 2014). "L'indécent chassé-croisé entre Bank of America et le pouvoir socialiste". Mediapart (in French). Retrieved July 15, 2014.
  14. ^ "François Hollande boucle la réorganisation de son cabinet". La lettre de L'Expansion (in French). 2014-12-29. Retrieved 2016-08-03.
  15. ^ "Laurence Boone", in "Les 50 Français les plus influents du monde". Vanity Fair (in French). No. 64. December 2018. p. 101.
  16. ^ Pierre Briançon (20 June 2018), Former Hollande adviser: ‘A door has been opened’ on eurozone reform Politico Europe.
  17. ^ Pierre Breteau; Alexandre Pouchard (2015-06-12). "3 questions sur le très secret groupe Bilderberg, objet de fantasmes". Le Monde (in French). ISSN 1950-6244. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
  18. ^ "Qui sont les dix Français invités du très secret groupe Bilderberg?". L'Express (in French). 2015-06-13. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
  19. ^ Arrêté du 1er mars 2016 portant organisation du cabinet du Président de la République
  20. ^ "Laurence Boone, la conseillère économique de François Hollande, quitte l'Elysée". L'Express (in French). January 11, 2016.
  21. ^ "Laurence Boone quitte l'Élysée pour le Groupe AXA". Les Échos (in French). January 11, 2016.
  22. ^ "La conseillère économique de Hollande quitte l'Élysée". Le Figaro (in French). January 11, 2016.
  23. ^ "Fin du quinquennat : François Hollande recase ses proches et ses conseillers". Le Point (in French). May 18, 2016.
  24. ^ Michel Rose (5 June 2018), OECD names ex-Hollande adviser Laurence Boone as chief economist Reuters.
  25. ^ World Bank, IMF Launch High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable and Inclusive Recovery and Growth International Monetary Fund, press release of June 15, 2021.
  26. ^ OECD appoints Laurence Boone and Kerri-Ann Jones as new Deputy Secretaries-General - Ulrik Knudsen appointment extended by two years OECD, press release of 25 January 2022.
  27. ^ "Laurence Boone". kering.com (in French). Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  28. ^ "Kering : démission de Laurence Boone". Le Figaro (in French). June 12, 2014. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  29. ^ Members of the Council European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
  30. ^ Advisory Board Jacques Delors Centre, Hertie School.
  31. ^ Members Cercle des économistes.