In 1990, he completed his habilitation in the same University with his thesis on Festkurssysteme und geldpolitische Koordination ("Fixed exchange rate systems and monetary policy coordination").

[8] In 2005, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder proposed that Bofinger should replace Otmar Issing on the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB) the following year;[9] the post eventually went to economist Jürgen Stark.

[n 1] In the same vein, Bofinger denounces the "arbitrary" and baseless criteria for fiscal policy set down by the Maastricht Treaty, such as limiting state debt to a maximum of 60% of yearly GDP.

In the 2016 Davos symposium,[12] Bofinger asserted that inadequacies in the monetary union's structure along with distinct market failures were the culprits for the Eurozone debt crisis.

[14]In an article published in 2017 in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Bofinger argued that a state organized industrial policy promotes technological progress more than free competition,[15] citing research undertaken by Mariana Mazzucato,[16] Ha-Joon Chang, and others.

He argued that the recent, post-monetary union record of bank failures, as well as the wave of nuclear companies' and diesel manufacturers' bankruptcies, should bring forth the discussion for "a more active industrial policy for Germany and Europe."

They explicitly accused Bofinger that, by supporting a centrally designated policy, he showed that he "understands nothing about Economics," and they reiterated the imperative to entrust the supremacy of free-market competition.