German Council of Economic Experts
Herbert Giersch (1921–2010) was appointed director of the Institute in 1989 and subsequently became president of the Institute. Numerous macroeconomic changes and geopolitical, which determined the Institute's research and policy-advising activities, took place during his period in office: the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, the rise in oil prices, and the increased manufacturing in developing countries and emerging markets. Giersch strengthened the Institute's policy-advising role in Germany by playing a leading intellectual role in the German Council of Economic Experts. In this role, the Institute became involved in numerous controversies with the German government because it differed with the government on such important issues as exchange rate policies and monetary, labor, and industrial policies. Under Giersch's leadership, the Institute became significantly more active in research based on international collaboration. As a result, it played a leading role in the Sonderforschungsbereich 86 "Weltwirtschaft und internationale Wirtschaftsbeziehungen" (Special Research Area 86 for Global Economics and Global Economic Affairs).