Berlin The lot apparently decided in wise foresight. For a long time, the economic experts could not agree on a chair after their previous boss Lars Feld left in spring 2021. In the following autumn, this led to the curiosity that the council members drew lots to see who was allowed to hand over their annual report to the then Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU). The lot fell on Monika Schnitzer.
The next annual report, which Merkel’s successor Olaf Scholz (SPD) will receive at the beginning of November, no longer needs to be drawn. It is already clear that Schnitzer will hand it over again. The economists elected the economist as their chair on Thursday. With immediate effect, she will take over the management of the “Council of Experts for the Assessment of Overall Economic Development”, the most important economic advisory body in the state.
Schnitzer was two years old when Ludwig Erhard founded the Council of Experts in 1961. Since then there has not been a woman at the head of the board, until now. In any case, the economists are becoming more and more female.
With the appointment of Ulrike Malmendier a few weeks ago, for the first time, the majority of business wise men were women.
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The economy is still considered a male-dominated domain, especially in Germany. Schnitzer has been working to change that for years. The 61-year-old, who is a professor for comparative economic research at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, is considered one of the most important voices for the stronger role of women economists in the German scene.
Research area digitization and innovations
It is not too surprising that Schnitzer would take over the top post of economic experts. Above all, due to its undogmatic approach, it is considered to be capable of winning a majority. When she was appointed to the Council of Economic Experts in April 2020, many observers still classified her as a representative of a liberal school.
>> Read here: Ulrike Malmendier and Martin Werding become the new way of doing business
That is not fundamentally wrong, Schnitzer is still promoting a higher retirement age and warns against too much government industrial policy. In the above-mentioned main report by the economic experts last year, however, she pleaded for a further suspension of the debt brake and thus sided with Achim Truger, who is supported by the unions, and against council colleague Veronika Grimm and Volker Wieland, who has since left and became a council member through the employers.
At the same time, other economists describe Schnitzer’s scientific achievements with appreciation. She has made a name for herself in particular with research into competitive issues in digital markets and in innovation economics.
This year, Olaf Scholz will be in the front row at the event. Schnitzer stays there.
(Photo: Reuters)
She is also considered to be well connected, including in politics. The federal government often seeks the advice of the economist. Also because Schnitzer keeps coming up with practical studies and is also prepared to contradict. In the summer, for example, she was one of the first to analyze the effects of the tank discount. Her verdict at the time: “wrong in terms of regulatory policy and not accurate”.
Anyone who browses through Monika Schnitzer’s Twitter profile will quickly become aware of the variety of topics. Schnitzer typically shares graphs, charts, and tables on a daily basis. The topics are varied. Most recently, it was about the price of oil, then about approvals for electric cars, and finally about raw materials in China.
>> Read here: Monika Schnitzer in an interview on relief
As unsurprising as her choice is now, it has dragged on for so long. In the spring of 2021, Lars Feld, who is now the independent chief economist of Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP), left the Advisory Council. The federal government had not been able to agree on a successor, so that the council had to continue as a foursome.
A year and a half without a boss
In this constellation, it was not possible for a council member to find a majority for the post of chair, and several attempts at elections failed. Truger supported Schnitzer, Wieland and Grimm each other. After Wieland left the council prematurely in April of this year, the three remaining wanted to wait for the new members.
After much tugging in the federal government, the council of experts is now complete again. Two weeks ago, the two new wise men, Malmendier and Werding, were appointed. And the way for carvers was free.
More: Veronika Grimm on deficiencies in the gas price brake – the head of the gas commission in an interview