“Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will it to become a general law.”
I, Dr. Thorsten Polleit (born 1967), am an honorary professor of economics at the University of Bayreuth (www.rw.uni-bayreuth) and President of the Ludwig von Mises Institute Germany (www.misesde.org). From 1997 to the beginning of 2012, I worked as an economist and investment advisor in international investment banking, then in the international precious metals trading business until 2023.
As an economist at one of the leading investment banks, I have spent many years advising institutional investors worldwide (such as insurance companies, investment companies, hedge funds, capital market funds, but also the finance departments of large companies and government agencies) on the future development of the economy, equity, interest rate, currency and commodity markets.
In 2013, I was a co-founder of an alternative investment fund (AIF). After a very successful development, I left the project in 2019. Since then, I have been investing as a private investor, behind the scenes so to speak. My main motivation for entering the world of professional investing was to put my theoretical knowledge and practical experience through its paces in the real world and prove it right.
I studied economics at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster. I was awarded my doctorate in 1997 by Professor Dr. Manfred Borchert – who, incidentally, was in the direct line via Professor Dr. Ernst Heuss (1922-2010) to the well-known ordoliberal economist Walter Eucken (1891-1950), who in turn was an advisor to Ludwig Erhard (1897-1977), the first Economics Minister and second Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Since 2009 I have been a Fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, Auburn, US Alabama, and in 2012 I was awarded The O. P. Alford III Prize in Political Economy. In 2024, I accepted an invitation to join the teaching and research collaboration of The Vinson Centre at Buckingham University, UK. My main areas of interest and teaching are capital market theory, monetary theory, epistemology and the history of dogma.
I have written many articles in peer-reviewed journals over the years, and am also a referee for journals (e.g. Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Credit And Capital, Liberal Arts and Social Sciences International Journal). My latest books include “Des Teufels Geld” (2023, FBV), “The Global Currency Plot” (2023, Mises Institute) and “Der Weg zur Wahrheit (2022, FBV).
I have been happily married since 2008 and have three children. I am a devout Christian.