Hans Tietmeyer

Hans Tietmeyer
Hans Tietmeyer and Helmut Schlesinger
5th President of the German Bundesbank
In office 1993–1999
Preceded by	Helmut Schlesinger
Succeeded by	Ernst Welteke
Personal details
Born	(1931-08-18) August 18, 1931 Metelen, North Rhine-Westphalia
Nationality	Germany
Alma mater	University of Münster University of Bonn University of Cologne

Hans Tietmeyer is a German economist and regarded as one of the foremost experts on international financial matters. He was president of Deutsche Bundesbank from 1993 until 1999 and remains one of the most important figures in finance of the European Union.

Early Life

Hans Tietmeyer was born August 18, 1931 in Metelen (Westphalia), graduated from Gymnasium Paulinum and studied at the University of Münster, University of Bonn and University of Cologne. Following an academic background of Alfred Müller-Armack and Ludwig Erhard he moved into international banking and economics.

In 1962 he started his career in the Federal Ministry of Economics. In 1982 he became Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, where he was responsible for international monetary policy, financial policy, EU matters and the preparation of World Economic Summits (sherpa).

Career

Tietmeyer became a Member of the Board of Directors of the Deutsche Bundesbank in 1990, with responsibility for international monetary issues, organisations and agreements. After two years as Vice President he became President of the Deutsche Bundesbank in 1993, a position he held until August 1999.

During Tietmeyer's tenure as president of the Bundesbank, the Euro was introduced as the currency for most of the EU. At the time Tietmeyer forecast that the common currency would lead to painful internal economic adjustments for member states with trade deficits cumulating into debt. Commentator David Marsh in late 2012 drew attention to that forecast as he highlighted "the significant internal devaluations of their currencies though a sharp fall in unit labor costs" which Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece, for example, have suffered in the European sovereign-debt crisis of 2008 onward. This effect of the Euro is similar to the impact of "the classical gold standard", wrote Marsh in describing the phenomenon.

Tietmeyer was Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) 2003-10.

He has published more than 100 articles on the subject of economics and is the recipient of many prestigious awards and prizes and is a member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

References

• "Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Hans Tietmeyer" (in German). Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt Theological Faculty. Retrieved 2010-04-17.

External links

• Personal Web site Template:De icon
• Tietmeyer's page at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences