Philip Algar, believes that he was born at the age of 25, thus avoiding the necessity of developing an early sense of humour to be deployed against school bullies. This meant that he could never become a stand-up comedian so, inevitably, he became an economist and writer.

He has worked in offices and maintains that his proudest achievements were to write funny business sketches for office social events, to keep a straight face at management meetings and to recall humorous incidents for the satire on office life and business that he did not know he would write some decades later. For some years, Philip Algar was employed by several multinational companies, regrettably not simultaneously, and witnessed many examples of office humour, much of it unintentional, and management incompetence.

Tiring of funny business and the effort to remain serious in an odd world, Philip Algar said farewell to the multinational life and turned to writing and broadcasting extensively about business, economics and energy. Additionally, he has trained many international companies, around the world, on aspects of crisis management and has written two books on the subject.

There is no known medical cure for the cumulative and depressing impact of all this, so he has adopted a relatively flippant view of life which has been reflected in many humorous and satirical articles in recent years. Indeed, WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT, was developed after a favourable reaction to some humorous writing about business and the eccentricities of the modern world.
He has received awards for his professional activities but will not return them as a gesture of protest against the way that business is now conducted, because he has forgotten where he put them.