Markus Jaeger

  • Senior Advisor
  • Adjunct Professor, Columbia University
  • Fellow, German Council on Foreign Relations

Freedom and Prosperity Center

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Issues

Economy & Business Macroeconomics Trade and tariffs

Regions

Central Europe Europe & Eurasia Southern & Southeastern Europe

Languages

English French German Portuguese Spanish
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Issue Brief

Mar 20, 2026

The economic and political traps awaiting aging societies

By Markus Jaeger

Rapidly aging populations and falling birthrates create fiscal and economic headwinds that even advanced economies struggle to manage. Some middle-income countries are approaching the same “demographic cliff” at an even faster clip, while many lower-income countries face the opposite problem. Policymakers in all cases must be prepared to make politically tough decisions—and soon.

Economy & Business Fiscal and Structural Reform

Issue Brief

Jul 11, 2025

Developing and emerging economies should double down on trade liberalization

By Markus Jaeger

The fate of the Trump administration’s proposed tariffs may be unclear—announced and immediately suspended in early April; now set to take effect in July—but it is reasonably clear what emerging and developing economies should do: Resist protectionism, strengthen macroeconomic resilience, and attract foreign investment to navigate rising US trade barriers and uncertainty.

Economy & Business Trade and tariffs

Report

Mar 24, 2025

Why democracies stick together: The theory and empirics behind alliance formation

By Markus Jaeger

Democratic peace theory holds that democracies do not go to war with each other. The democratic alliance hypothesis suggests democracies prefer alliances with fellow democracies over nondemocratic powers. If both theories hold, US foreign policy should prioritize democratization, as prosperous, democratic nations are less likely to align with authoritarian states.

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Markus Jaeger is a senior advisor at the Atlantic Council’s Freedom and Prosperity Center, a fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations, and an adjunct professor at Columbia University. Previously, he was a director and global economist at Deutsche Bank in New York and London where he held a variety of research roles over the years. His current research is focused on international economic relations, geoeconomics, and US, Chinese, and European economic statecraft and grand strategy. Jaeger has been a visiting scholar at the European University Institute in Italy and a visiting fellow at the Casa das Garças in Brazil. He studied philosophy, politics, and economics at Heidelberg University and attended the Sciences Po. Jaeger holds a MSc and PhD from the London School of Economics.