About

Markus K. Brunnermeier is the Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Economics at Princeton University and serves as the director of the Bendheim Center for Finance. His research focuses on resilience, international financial markets, and the macroeconomy, with particular emphasis on resilience, bubbles, liquidity, financial and monetary price stability, and digital money. He has established a webinar series called Markus' Academy to facilitate the exchange of ideas and knowledge about urgent global issues, aiming to raise awareness and encourage solution-oriented research. Brunnermeier is also an author, with his book 'The Resilient Society' scheduled for release in 2026, and has contributed to discussions on topics such as crises, the euro, and digital currencies.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Economics
• Computer Security
• Business
• Artificial Intelligence
• Macroeconomics
• Finance
• Political Science
• Engineering
• Public economics
• Financial system
• Monetary economics
• Market economy
• Mathematics
• Financial economics

Selected publications

• Data and Code for: The Debt-Inflation Channel of the German (Hyper-)Inflation

  ICPSR Data Holdings · 2026-03-18

  datasetOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This paper studies how a large increase in the price level is transmitted to the real economy through firm balance sheets. Using newly digitized macro- and micro-level data from the German inflation of 1919-1923, we show that inflation led to a large reduction in real debt burdens and bankruptcies. Firms with higher nominal liabilities at the onset of inflation experienced a larger decline in interest expenses, a relative increase in their equity values, and higher employment during the inflation. The results are consistent with real effects of a debt-inflation channel that operates even when prices and wages are flexible.

  PublisherDOI

• Systemic Risk Measures: From the Panic of 1907 to the Banking Stress of 2023

  Annual Review of Financial Economics · 2025-08-11 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  We assess the efficacy of market-based systemic risk measures that rely on US financial firms’ stock return comovements with market- or sector-wide returns under stress from 1895 to 2023. Stress episodes are identified using corporate bond spread widening and narrative dating, spanning from the Panic of 1907 to the Banking Stress of 2023. Measures observed prior to the onset of stress episodes predict market outcomes (realized volatility and returns), balance sheet outcomes (lending, profitability, and run risk), and bank failures. Specifically, the measures are: ( a ) particularly effective in capturing the cross-sectional ranking of institutions conditional on a stress episode, rather than aggregate outcomes; ( b ) more informative when stress episodes are severe; and ( c ) relevant for both banks and nonbank financial institutions, although measures incorporating market leverage are especially informative for banks. A comparative analysis shows that market-based indicators offer information that is distinct from, and complementary to, traditional balance sheet metrics used in supervisory and macroprudential risk assessment.

  PublisherDOI

• Token-Based Platform Governance

  Working paper · 2025-05-01

  reportOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The Debt-Inflation Channel of the German (Hyper)Inflation

  American Economic Review · 2025-06-30 · 7 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  This paper studies how a large increase in the price level is transmitted to the real economy through firm balance sheets. Using newly digitized macro- and micro-level data from the German inflation of 1919–1923, we show inflation led to a large reduction in real debt burdens and bankruptcies. Firms with higher nominal liabilities at the onset of inflation experienced a larger decline in interest expenses, a relative increase in their equity values, and higher employment during the inflation. The results are consistent with real effects of a debt-inflation channel that operates even when prices and wages are flexible. (JEL D22, E23, E31, G32, N14, N24)

  PublisherDOI

• The Debt-Inflation Channel of the German (Hyper-)Inflation

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2024-05-22 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This paper studies how a large increase in the price level is transmitted to the real economy through firm balance sheets. Using newly digitized macro- and micro-level data from the German inflation of 1919-1923, we show that inflation led to a large reduction in real debt burdens and bankruptcies. Firms with higher nominal liabilities at the onset of inflation experienced a larger decline in interest expenses, a relative increase in their equity values, and higher employment during the inflation. The results are consistent with real effects of a debt-inflation channel that operates even when prices and wages are flexible.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Systemic Risk Measures: Taking Stock from 1927 to 2023

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Presidential Address: Macrofinance and Resilience

  The Journal of Finance · 2024-11-11 · 18 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  ABSTRACT This address reviews macrofinance from the perspective of resilience. It argues for a shift in mindset, away from risk management toward resilience management. It proposes a new resilience measure, and contrasts micro‐ and macro‐resilience. It also classifies macrofinance models in first‐ (log‐linearized) and second‐generation models, and links the important themes of macrofinance to resilience.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Systemic Risk Measures: From the Panic of 1907 to the Banking Stress of 2023

  National Bureau of Economic Research · 2024-11-01 · 1 citations

  report
  PublisherDOI

• Token-based platform governance

  Journal of Financial Economics · 2024-10-03 · 6 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Safe Assets

  Journal of Political Economy · 2024-03-25 · 28 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The price of a safe asset reflects not only the expected discounted future cash flows but also future service flows, since retrading allows partial insurance of idiosyncratic risk in an incomplete markets setting. This lowers the issuers’ interest burden. As idiosyncratic risk rises during recessions, so does the value of the service flows bestowing the safe asset with a negative β. The resulting exorbitant privilege resolves government debt valuation puzzles and allows the government to run a permanent (primary) deficit without ever paying back its debt, but the government faces a debt Laffer curve.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Yuliy Sannikov

  Stanford University

  116 shared

• Sebastian Merkel

  University of Exeter

  81 shared

• Marco Pagano

  Humanitas University

  70 shared

• Jean-Pierre Landau

  50 shared

• Harold James

  49 shared

• Ricardo Reis

  41 shared

• Stefan Nagel

  38 shared

• Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh

  Graduate School USA

  32 shared

Awards & honors

• 2021 Best Economic Book in German for The Resilient Society