Jürgen Stark (born 31 May 1948 in
Gau-Odernheim,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
) 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 was responsible for Economics and for Monetary Analysis and resigned before expiration of his term in opposition to ECB's bond-buying programme.
Early life and education
Stark grew up in
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...
. His father owned a vineyard in Gau-Odernheim in the
Rheinhessen wine region. Stark, the second son, considered continuing in the family business. He studied economics at the
University of Hohenheim
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
and
University of Tübingen
The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...
, both near
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
, from 1968 to 1973. During that time, he told an interviewer he participated in protests including against the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
: “We all, more or less at one point or time or another, had revolutionary ideas about what was just. But this was an episode that came to an end with the end of my studies. Then I became more serious.”
[Atkins, Ralph]
"Stark’s choices: an iconoclast’s take on the crisis"
''Financial Times'', October 16, 2009 11:47 am. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
He received a doctorate in 1975.
Career
From 1978 to 1998 Stark held economic policy positions in the German Federal Government. From September 1998 to May 2006 he served two consecutive terms as Vice President of the
Bundesbank
The Deutsche Bundesbank (, , colloquially Buba, sometimes alternatively abbreviated as BBk or DBB) is the national central bank for Germany within the Eurosystem. It was the German central bank from 1957 to 1998, issuing the Deutsche Mark (DM). ...
, acting as President of the bank in 2004.
On 9 September 2011, it was reported that Stark would leave the ECB due to disagreement with the bank's
controversial bond-buying programme, according to
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency ...
, while the ECB officially announced his resignation as being for "personal reasons". Stark's term had been set to expire in May 2014. Although he has officially resigned, he will continue to discharge the duties of his post until a successor is appointed, before the end of 2011. Current
deputy finance minister of Germany,
Jörg Asmussen, has been nominated as Stark's successor. In December, Stark spoke out against the idea of the
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
becoming a major participant in broader efforts to address the
European sovereign debt crisis. He envisioned instead, in an interview with the ''
Sueddeutsche Zeitung'', "an informal board of experts, which carefully checks the budgets of member states ...
asthe nucleus for a future European finance ministry."
Other activities
Corporate boards
*
Amundi
Amundi is a French asset management company. With €2.247 trillion of assets under management (AUM) in 2025, it is the largest asset manager in Europe and one of the 10 biggest investment managers in the world.
Founded on 1 January 2010, t ...
, Member of the Global Advisory Board (since 2016)
Non-profit organizations
*
Bertelsmann Stiftung
The Bertelsmann Stiftung is an independent Foundation (nonprofit), foundation under private law, based in Gütersloh, Germany. It was founded in 1977 by Reinhard Mohn as the result of social, corporate and fiscal considerations. The foundati ...
, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2012)
*
Free Democratic Party (FDP), Member of the Business Forum
*
Friedrich August von Hayek Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees
*
Ifo Institute for Economic Research, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees
*
Senckenberg Nature Research Society
The Senckenberg Nature Research Society (, until 2008 ''Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft'') is a German scholarly society with headquarters in Frankfurt am Main.
Overview
Its purpose is to conduct research in the natural sciences a ...
, Member of the Board of Trustees
Board of Trustees
Senckenberg Nature Research Society
The Senckenberg Nature Research Society (, until 2008 ''Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft'') is a German scholarly society with headquarters in Frankfurt am Main.
Overview
Its purpose is to conduct research in the natural sciences a ...
.
Personal life
Stark "and his wife, Christine, whom he married in 1973, have a retirement house on the Baltic sea. They have two children. ... is on the board of Frankfurt’s Senckenberg natural history museum, reflecting his interest in palaeontology
Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geo ...
", it was reported in 2009.[
]
References
External links
J. Stark biography at the ECB
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, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stark, Jurgen
1948 births
German economists
Living people
Presidents of the Deutsche Bundesbank
University of Tübingen alumni
Executive Board of the European Central Bank members