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 monetary policy decision-making that the ECB has adopted.

Issing studied economics at the University of Würzburg from 1955 until 1960 with temporary studies in London and Paris.

From 1960 to 1966 he worked as a research assistant at the University of Würzburg.

He earned his PhD in 1961 and received his postdoctoral lecture qualification (habilitation) in 1965.

In 1967 Issing became director of the Institute for International Economic Relations at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and full professor at the faculty of economics and social sciences of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

In 1973 he was appointed Professor of Economics, Monetary Affairs and International Economic Relations at the University of Würzburg.

From 1988 to 1990 Issing was a member of the German Council of Economic Experts and in 1990 he became a member of the board of the Deutsche Bundesbank with a seat on the Central Bank Council.

Verein für Socialpolitik (German Economic Association), American Economic Association, Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur (Academy of Sciences and Literature, as a Corresponding Member from 1989 to 1991), Academia Scientiarum et Artium Europaea, Walter Eucken Institute, Executive Committee of the Institute for European Affairs (INEA), Euro50 Group, Advisory Board of the Globalization and Monetary Policy Institute (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, until 2016).

Issing's scientific publications almost cover the whole range of recent economic policy issues.

His two main research topics are monetary theory and policy and international economic relations.

His most recent books are:

Issing was critical on the premature start of European Monetary Union with a large group of heterogenous countries.

He warned EU member states not to violate the no-bailout clause that prohibits the assumption of liability for other countries' debts.

In 1998 Issing became a member of the executive board of the European Central Bank, responsible for the Directorates General Economics and Research as well as its first Chief Economist.

After leaving the executive board, Issing been serving as president of the Center for Financial Studies since 2006.

Since June 2006 Issing has been president of the Center for Financial Studies (CFS) at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and from 2007 until 2018 he was an international advisor to Goldman Sachs.

In October 2008 Issing chaired a German government expert group on the new financial order that drew up proposals on how to reform international financial markets (also known as "Issing Commission").

The group published six reports.

In 2008 Issing was also a member of the high level group of the European Commission on financial supervision in the EU chaired by Jacques de Larosière.

In October 2016 Issing warned that the Stability and Growth Pact was near to failure, there was no market discipline because of ECB interventions and no fiscal control mechanism from markets or politicians.

The ECB had "crossed the Rubicon" and was in an untenable position, struggling to carry out its conflicting roles as agent of monetary policy, banking regulator, and Troika enforcer.

Noting that the bank already held over €1 trillion of bonds bought at artificially low or negative yields, so would face great losses when interest rates rise again, he warned.

The reputational risk of such actions by a central bank would have been unthinkable in the past." His conclusion was that in its current form the euro project was unworkable and one day would collapse.

He was a Member of the G20 Eminent Persons Group on Global Financial Governance, which was formally established by G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors for the period 2017–2018.