Peter Bofinger (born September 18, 1954) is a German

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

and a former member of the

German Council of Economic Experts The German Council of Economic Experts (German: ') is a group of economists set up in 1963 to evaluate economic policies of the German government. In the media, the council is often referred to as the "Five Sages of Economy" (''Fünf Wirtschaftswe ...

Career

Following his studies, Bofinger worked as staff member to the Council of Economic Experts between 1978 and 1981. From 1984 until 1990, he was an economist at the

Bundesbank The Deutsche Bundesbank (), literally "German Federal Bank", is the central bank of the Federal Republic of Germany and as such part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). Due to its strength and former size, the Bundesbank is the mos ...

. Since 1992, Bofinger has been a professor at the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

. Between 1997 and 1999, he served as Dean of the university’s Department of Economics. In 1997, he turned down an offer to move to the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Nominated by Germany’s

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

s, Bofinger succeeded Jürgen Kromphardt as member of the Council of Economic Experts in 2004. He has in the past oftentimes disagreed with the Council’s conclusions. Between 2012 and 2017, he issued 26 of the Council’s 27 minority votes during that period. For example, he was the only member of the Council to advocate the adoption of a minimum wage in Germany: He argues that a minimum wage of €5 is necessary to prevent "wage dumping" and to ensure that full-time employment provides enough income. He does not think that a minimum wage would have a negative impact on employment. In 2005, Chancellor

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...

proposed that Bofinger should replace

Otmar Issing Otmar Issing (born 27 March 1936 in Würzburg) is a German economist who served as a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank from 1998 to 2006 and concurrently as ECB chief economist. He developed the 'two-pillar' approach to ...

on the

Executive Board A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of the

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the monetary Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's most important centr ...

(ECB) the following year; the post instead went to

Jürgen Stark Jürgen Stark (born 31 May 1948 in Gau-Odernheim, Germany) is a German economist who served as a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank from 2006 to 2011 and concurrently as ECB chief economist. Within the Executive Board, he w ...

. From December 2011 until May 2012, Bofinger served as member of the Jacques Delors Institute’s Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa group, a high-level expert group to reflect on the reform of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union.

Positions

Bofinger criticized the awarding of the 2022

Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel ( sv, Sveriges riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne), is an economics award administered ...

to Ben Bernanke, Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig as "A noble award for a ‘popular misconception’", because the award committee's description of banking ("they receive money from people making deposits and channel it to borrowers") has been refuted by the Bank of England and the Deutsche Bundesbank.

Selected publications

* * * * *

Other activities

Non-profit organizations

* Business Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Member of the Advisory Board on Economic Policy (since 2020) *

European Council on Foreign Relations The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007, it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decisi ...

, Member of the Board *

Institute for New Economic Thinking The Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) is a New York City–based nonprofit think tank. It was founded in October 2009 as a result of the 2007–2012 global financial crisis, and runs a variety of affiliated programs at major universiti ...

(INET), Member of the Council on the Euro Zone Crisis (ICEC) * Deutsche Industrieforschungsgemeinschaft Konrad Zuse, Member of the Senate * Progressive Economy, Member of the Scientific Advisory Board * ''

Verein für Socialpolitik The Verein für Socialpolitik (), or the German Economic Association, is an important society of economists in the German-speaking area. History The Verein was founded in Eisenach in 1872 as a response to the "social question". Among its founde ...

'', Member of the Committee on Monetary Policy

Editorial boards

* ''International Journal of Economics and Finance'' (IJEF), Member of the Board of Editors * ''

Wirtschaftsdienst ''Wirtschaftsdienst – Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftspolitik'' ( en, Economics Review – Journal of Economic Policy) is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering economic and social policy issues in Germany or affecting Germany. It also publishes ...

'', Member of the Scientific Advisory BoardScientific Advisory Board
''

''.

References

External links

Peter Bofinger's Curriculum Vitae
at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bofinger, Peter 1954 births Living people German economists Keynesians