To further its offering of the sharpest and most expert insight into global finance, economics and politics, the Financial Times today launches a new section called the A-List, which will feature agenda-setting commentary on FT.com and in all global editions of the newspaper. Each day, the FT A-List will publish exclusive and original comment from its network of globally renowned leaders, policymakers and commentators, including Lawrence H. Summers and George Soros, on issues at the top of the news agenda.

Topics will range from business, economics and finance to world politics and diplomacy. The headline commentary will be accompanied by a response from related experts to encourage debate, and readers will be able to participate and comment online.

Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times, said: “The digital age has created a wider platform for news and views than ever before, but ‘more’ does not necessarily mean ‘better’. There is a growing audience around the world for the FT’s high quality, intelligent and independent content. The A-List strengthens our offering to readers with must-read views on the pressing news of the day from names they recognise and respect.”

To mark the launch, Lawrence H. Summers, Charles W. Eliot university professor at Harvard University and former Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton, and Chairman of Economic Advisers to President Barack Obama, will write the first of a series of monthly columns appearing in the Financial Times, addressing the state of the US economic recovery. Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business, chairman of Roubini Global Economics and former senior advisor to White House Council of Economic Advisors, will then launch the A List commentary addressing the future prospects of the eurozone.

FT A-List contributors will also include:

  • Howard Davies, former chairman of the Financial Services Authority, deputy governor of the Bank of England and director of the London School of Economics
    Mohamed El-Erian, CEO and co-CIO of PIMCO
  • Richard Haass, president of Council on Foreign Relations
  • Glenn Hubbard, dean of Columbia University Graduate School of Business and former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
  • Peter Mandelson, former UK business secretary and EU trade commissioner
  • Jim O’Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management
  • Robert Reich, chancellor’s professor of public policy at the University California at Berkeley and former US Secretary of Labor
  • Anne-Marie Slaughter, Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 University Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University and former director of policy planning for the US state department
  • George Soros, chairman of Soros Fund Management and philanthropist. He is author of ‘The Crash of 2008 and What it Means’
  • Jacob Weisberg, chairman and editor-in-chief of The Slate Group and author of ‘The Bush Tragedy
  • Yang Yao, director of the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University and editor of China Economic Quarterly
  • Mortimer Zuckerman, chairman and editor-in-chief of U.S. News & World Report and cofounder of Boston Properties

The FT ‘A-list’ will be updated daily at www.ft.com/thealist

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