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Otmar Issing

Otmar Issing

16 commentaries

Otmar Issing, former chief economist and member of the board of the European Central Bank, is Honorary President of the Center for Financial Studies at Goethe University Frankfurt.

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  1. Can the ECB Escape Its Own Trap?
    issing16_Andreas RentzGetty Images_christinelagarde Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

    Can the ECB Escape Its Own Trap?

    Jun 7, 2023 Otmar Issing examines the policy dilemma facing central banks as they try to shrink their bloated balance sheets.

  2. The ECB’s Political Overreach
    issing15_Boris Roesslerpicture alliance via Getty Images_ecb Boris Roessler/picture alliance via Getty Images

    The ECB’s Political Overreach

    Jul 27, 2022 Otmar Issing thinks a new asset-purchase program will push the central bank further into a domain where it doesn't belong.

  3. The High Stakes of Rising Inflation
    issing14_OLIVIER DOULIERYAFP via Getty Images_fed reserve inflation OLIVIER DOULIERYAFP via Getty Images

    The High Stakes of Rising Inflation

    Nov 30, 2021 Otmar Issing warns that growing pressure on prices is a global phenomenon, posing a crucial test for central banks.

  4. The Return of Inflation?
    issing13_Getty Images_inflation Getty Images

    The Return of Inflation?

    Jul 16, 2021 Otmar Issing worries that central banks are ignoring potential new sources of upward price pressure and uncertainty.

  5. The MMT Myth
    issing12_matthiashaas_getty Images_printing money mmt Matthias Haas/Getty Images

    The MMT Myth

    Nov 3, 2020 Otmar Issing explains why Modern Monetary Theory amounts to (poisonous) old wine in a new bottle.

  1. rodrik231_Andrej IvanovGettyImages_us_canda_border Andrej Ivanov/Getty Images

    How Not to Respond to Trump’s Tariffs

    Dani Rodrik advises America’s trade partners not to embrace retaliation, because that would harm mainly themselves.
  2. landau5_Thierry MonasseGettyImages_eu_competitiveness_compass Thierry Monasse/Getty Images

    Europe Found Its Values and Lost Its Way

    Jean-Pierre Landau

    European integration – and the stability and prosperity it supports – has always depended on a pragmatic, incremental approach. If the EU is to navigate today’s challenging geopolitical environment, it must again embrace this approach, rather than continue to allow high-level principles to dictate policy.

    warns that the EU’s focus on high-level principles is undermining its economic dynamism and global influence.
  3. cferguson4_Patrick T. FallonGettyImages_jensen_huang Patrick T. Fallon/Getty Images

    The Crisis in Western AI Is Real

    Charles Ferguson

    Given the risks involved in the race for AI dominance, maintaining a strong lead within democratic advanced economies justifies a public-private strategic mobilization on the scale of the Manhattan Project. Yet the West is doing the opposite, largely owing to its own AI industry’s arrogance, shortsightedness, and greed.

    thinks the US industry bears a considerable share of the blame for China’s DeepSeek breakthrough.
  4. singer239_Andrew HarnikGetty Images_americafirst Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

    “America First” in Action

    Peter Singer assesses the damage Donald Trump has already done to long-term US interests since returning to the White House.
  5. varoufakis124_Luke SharrettGettyImages_palantir_demo Luke Sharrett/Getty Images

    Technofeudalism Is War’s Handmaiden

    Yanis Varoufakis explains how the rise of cloud capital is steering the world toward well-known strategic traps.
  6. buiter54_FABRICE COFFRINIAFP via Getty Images_swissnationalbank Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

    The Positive Case for Negative Rates

    Willem H. Buiter & Ebrahim Rahbari see the widely scorned monetary-policy tool as a necessary option in the absence of fiscal alternatives.
  7. ahzhang20_PETER CATTERALLAFP via Getty Images_deepseek Peter Catterall/AFP via Getty Images

    Will DeepSeek Upend US Tech Dominance?

    Angela Huyue Zhang says the firm’s disruption of the AI industry is about market – not great-power – competition.
  8. buruma222_Anna MoneymakerGettyImages_donald_trump_cross Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

    Breaking US Democracy Beyond Repair

    Ian Buruma warns that Donald Trump’s efforts to tear down America’s “civic religion” will be difficult to reverse.
  9. patten172_Scott OlsonGetty Images_trump Scott Olson/Getty Images

    Can the Liberal International Order Survive Without America?

    Chris Patten urges Western countries to safeguard the institutions that have underpinned their postwar stability.

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