Critic of Osborne’s austerity policy joins Bank of England rate committee

Alan Taylor has spent most of his career in the US as an academic and adviser to the finance industry. Photograph: Columbia University

A British American academic who has previously researched the damage to the UK economy from austerity has been appointed to the Bank of England’s interest rate-setting committee.

Alan Taylor, a professor at New York’s Columbia University, will join the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) on 2 September for a three-year term after his appointment by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves. He replaces Jonathan Haskel, who is stepping down after six years on the panel.