Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung
In 2002, Schmidt became president of the RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and in 2009 he replaced Bert Rürup on the German Council of Economic Experts (GCEE) advising the German government. Since March 2013, he has been chairman of the GCEE. In 2014, he became member of the Steering Committee of the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech).