[citation needed] He was a professor of economics and state sciences at the universities of Breslau, Strasbourg, Vienna, Leipzig, and most importantly, Munich (1891–1914).

With Ernst Engel, the statistician, he made an investigation of the English trade unions.

Brentano accused Marx of falsifying a quotation from an 1863 speech by William Ewart Gladstone.

[citation needed] Brentano was a Kathedersozialist, a professor advocating social reform, and a founding member of the Verein für Socialpolitik.

He influenced the social market economy and many Germans who were leaders immediately after the end of World War II.