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. After leaving the executive board, Issing been serving as president of the Center for Financial Studies since 2006.
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. 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.
Memberships
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).
Publications
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:
"Der Euro in stürmischen Zeiten" about economic and monetary policy at Center for Financial Studies 2006-2015 (Vahlen, 2016)
"Einführung in die Geldtheorie" (Introduction to Monetary Theory), fifteenth edition, Munich 2011.[1] (Translations into Chinese and Bulgarian)
"Der Euro. Geburt – Erfolg – Zukunft" about the creation of the new European currency published by Franz Vahlen in 2008.,[2] English version: "The birth of the Euro" (Cambridge, 2008), Chinese version 2010
"Imperfect knowledge and monetary policy", with Vitor Gaspar, Oreste Tristani and David Vestin (Cambridge, 2005)
"Monetary policy in the Euro Area", with Vitor Gaspar, Ignazio Angeloni and Oreste Tristani (Cambridge, 2001)
"Von der D-Mark zum Euro" (Tübingen, 1998)
"Einführung in die Geldpolitik" (6th edition, Munich, 1996)
Positions
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 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.
