Monika Schnitzer (born September 9, 1961 in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

) is a German economist and chair of comparative economic research at the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

. She was the president of the ''

Verein für Socialpolitik The (; literally: Association for Social Policy), or the German Economic Association, is a society of economists in the German language, German-speaking area. History The was founded in Eisenach in 1872 as a response to the "social question ...

'' from 2015 to 2016 and is the chairwoman of the

German Council of Economic Experts The German Council of Economic Experts (German: ') is a group of economists set up in 1963 to evaluate economic policies of the German government. In the media, the council is often referred to as the "Five Sages of Economy" (''Fünf Wirtschafts ...

since 2022.

Education

Schnitzer graduated with a diploma in economics from the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...

in 1986. She went on to further study at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

and received her

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

(Ph.D.) in 1991. She was granted a

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

at the same university in 1995.

Career

The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich appointed Schnitzer to her current position in 1996. In addition to her academic work, Schmitzer advised the German

Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (, ; abbreviated BMWE, formerly BMWi) is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was previously known as the "Ministry of Economy". It was recreated in 2005 as "Minis ...

and the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

from 2011 to 2020. From 2011 to 2019, she served as deputy chair of the Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation (EFI). She is a fellow of the

European Economic Association The European Economic Association (EEA) is a learned society, professional academic body which links European economists. It was founded in the mid-1980s. Its first annual congress was in 1986 in Vienna and its first president was Jacques Drèze. ...

. In 2025, the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Friedrich Merz Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz (; ; born 11November 1955) is a German politician serving as Chancellor of Germany since 6 May 2025. He has also served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since January 2022, leading the CDU/CSU ...

appointed Schnitzer as member of an expert commission to advise

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

Lars Klingbeil Lars Klingbeil (; born 23 February 1978) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) serving as the Vice Chancellor of Germany and Federal Minister of Finance since 6 May 2025. He has served as the SPD's Co-Leader since 2021, to ...

on reforming Germany's rules on public debt, co-chaired by

Stephan Weil Stephan Weil (born 15 December 1958) is a German politician and the leader of the Social Democratic Party in Lower Saxony. On 20 January 2013, the SPD and the Green party won the 2013 Lower Saxony state election by one seat. On 19 February 20 ...

, Eckhardt Rehberg and

Stephan Müller Stephan Müller (born 7 July 1951) is a Switzerland, Swiss Theatrical director, theatre and Opera director, opera Stagecraft, director, dramaturge and a teacher of multimedia Aesthetics. Life Stephan Müller was born at Oberbuchsiten (Canton of S ...

Research and Position

Schnitzer's research is mainly in Industrial economics and external trade. Some of her positions following ordoliberalistic views of economy, society and idea of man.

Other activities

Non-profit organizations

Centre for Economic Policy Research The Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) is an independent, non-partisan, pan-European non-profit organisation. It aims to enhance the quality of policy decisions through providing policy-relevant research, based soundly in economic schola ...

(CEPR), Member of the Steering Committee of the Competition Policy Research and Policy Network * Center for European Economic Research (ZEW), Member of the Scientific Advisory Board *

Ifo Institute for Economic Research The Ifo Institute for Economic Research is a Munich-based research institution. Ifo is an acronym from Information and Forschung (research). As one of Germany's largest economic think-tanks, it analyses economic policy and is known for its mon ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees *

Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence The Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence (; abbreviated MPI-BI) is a non-university research institute of the Max Planck Society. The institute is dedicated to basic research on topics in behavioral ecology, evolutionary biology and ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees *

Deutsches Museum The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science museum, science and technology museum, technology, with a ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees

Editorial boards

* ''

German Economic Review The ''German Economic Review'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of economics published quarterly by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the Verein für Socialpolitik, of which it is the official English language journal. It was re-established in 200 ...

'', Member of the Board of EditorsBoard of Editors
''

''.

Recognition

* 2005 –

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

* 2012 –

Bavarian Order of Merit The Bavarian Order of Merit () is the Order of Merit of the Free State of Bavaria. It is awarded by the Minister-President of Bavaria as a "recognition of outstanding contributions to the Free State of Bavaria and the Bavarian people". The or ...

* 2019 – Honorary Doctorate from

Kiel University Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public University, public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ...

* 2022 - Gustav Stolper Prize

Personal life

Schnitzer is married to fellow economist Klaus M. Schmidt. The couple has three daughters.

References

External links

Official website
Living people 1961 births Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich University of Cologne alumni University of Bonn alumni Academic staff of the University of Bonn German economists Fellows of the European Economic Association Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany {{Germany-economist-stub