Photo Gallery What Makes Schäuble Tick?
In making his decisions, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble often calls on experts in his ministry and economists for specific information. "Academic knowledge is important," says Schäuble, "because one has to make a constant effort to understand things."
The Finance Ministry in Berlin was designed by the Nazis. The corridors are up to 700 meters (2,296 feet) long, and lead to 2,100 offices, whose stone doorframes form seemingly endless rows reminiscent of the set of a grim, futuristic film.
Harvard professor and economist Kenneth Rogoff met with Schäuble in the Finance Ministry in 2011 after giving a talk there. "It wasn't that he gave me any specific advice," says Schäuble. "I asked him to explain to me what he had said in his talk."
John Maynard Keynes (left), seen here in 1945, is responsible for one of the economic schools of thought after the 1929 crash. For Keynesians, the market is an animal that requires training.
Schäuble admits that he wasn't envious of his predecessor, Peer Steinbrück (left), when Lehman failed in 2008 and the global financial crisis erupted, nor did he envy Steinbrück for "that terrible feeling you get when you realize that this could turn into a panic."
