John Whittaker is an economist at Lancaster University, specialising in monetary policy, banking and financial markets, and central bank operations. Current interests are sovereign debt problems in the eurozone and the response of policy and regulation to the financial crisis and the recession. His most recent work has been concerned with the operation of the eurosystem and the ‘Target2’ debts between eurozone central banks. From 2004 to 2009 he was a Member of the European Parliament for the UK Independence Party.