[1][2] Lauk has an MA in history and theology from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and received his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1977.
He has been a vocal critic of Merkel's reluctance to introduce bold economic reforms,[10] often arguing that she has been bowing to pressure from the Social Democratic Party over several major issues, including the introduction of a minimum wage and pensions increases.
[11] On government proposals to cut the retirement age for veteran workers to 63 and increase pensions for mothers in 2014, Lauk argued that Germany was setting "a bad example" not only for vulnerable southern European nations but also for France.
[12] In 2010, Lauk described German industry as "the infrastructure provider to emerging countries" for the next 10 years, yet warned that promising areas like software, biogenetics and nanotechnologies were lacking.
[13] As for Germany's role as world export leader, he argued that the country's current weakness suggested that over the next decade it could probably sink to a middling place in the global top ten.