Like few other German economists, he was able to make economic arguments accessible to the public. More than a dozen books, hundreds of opinion pieces and numerous radio and television interviews are proof of this. They provide a great translation service from the often model-based arguments of the economic profession to a language that the public is able to understand.
In doing so, he was sometimes polarising, often trenchant and always battlesome – but these are defining characteristics of a public intellectual. Public intellectuals argue their cases passionately. They have an attitude and not just an opinion. This is indispensable to ensure that their public statements encourage others to form their own opinions and to engage in a discourse.