He worked as an economist for Capel-Cure Myers and
Lloyds Merchant Bank. From 1989 until 1998, he was an economist at
Midland Bank/
HSBC, rising to the position of Group Chief Economist of the HSBC group. During the
John Major government in the 1990s, he was appointed to the UK treasury’s panel of economic forecasters under
Kenneth Clarke. Bootle founded the consultancy
Capital Economics in 1999. He and Capital Economics won the £250,000
Wolfson Economics Prize in 2012, "for the best plan for dealing with member states leaving the eurozone". In 2014, Bootle sold a stake in Capital Economics to part of
Lloyds Banking Group; the transaction valued his company at £70 million. Two years later, he changed to being part-time chairman.
The Trouble with Europe is among the books that he has written. == Publications ==