Barbara Beck joined The Economist in 1965 and held various editorial posts, mainly on the business side. In 1974 she became European editor, a position she held until 1980. From 1981 to 1991, she was Secretary General of the Anglo-German Foundation for the Study of Industrial Society, a bilateral, government-funded think-tank. For the next three years she was editor of International Management magazine. In 1993 she became Head of Communications, Europe, for Andersen Consulting. She then returned to The Economist in 1995 as Special Reports editor.