Remembering Markus Haacker

It is with great regret and sadness that we acknowledge the passing of Markus Haacker.

Markus joined CGD as a non-resident fellow in 2019, contributing a rare combination of macroeconomic and health policy expertise. Many of us knew him at the IMF, where he woke the institution up to the serious macroeconomic impact that AIDS might have, editing a pioneering volume in 2004 and launching an entire field of research endeavor. A small part of this work is encapsulated in a blog on AIDS and Human Capital in Africa and the wide reach of his work was on display in a CGD event on the economics of HIV/AIDS. He continued to work on the intersection of health and economics while affiliated with CGD. And going back to his roots as an economist, Markus had just finished a groundbreaking policy paper on the macroeconomic impact of the war in Ukraine.

Markus was a novel thinker, working across disciplines and gaining respect from researchers and policy makers across the globe. He wasn’t afraid to challenge orthodoxy or take people outside of their intellectual comfort zones. He was taken from us much too early, and we can only imagine what contributions he might have made. We will miss him.

Thank you to all at CGD who contributed to this remembrance of Markus.