Underdogs

Joel Budd joined the Economist in 2003 to cover British home affairs. He was posted to Los Angeles in 2006 as West Coast Correspondent, where he covered California’s developing budget crisis. In 2009 he was appointed media editor, writing about topics as diverse as music piracy, newspaper economics and the independent film business. He became Britain editor in November 2011 before taking up his current role as social-policy editor writing about demography, urbanisation and development. Before joining the Economist he taught early modern European history at New York University. Underdogs is his first book.