Thomas Brändle

Dr. Thomas Brändle is a Research Fellow in Political Economics at the Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Basel, where he has been affiliated since 2007 and completed his PhD in 2012. He serves as Deputy Head of Economic and Monetary Policy at the Swiss Federal Finance Administration, leading economic and financial policy analyses. He has held academic teaching roles at the University of Lausanne and the University of Neuchâtel and has worked as a Senior Policy Analyst at the OECD (2019–2021) and a national expert at the European Commission (2016). He has also been a visiting researcher at Pompeu Fabra University and Bocconi University.

His research focuses on Political Economics, Fiscal Policy, Health Policy, and Climate Policy, with a strong emphasis on fiscal sustainability, public finance, and macroeconomic modeling. His work frequently analyzes the long-term impacts of demographic change, healthcare costs, and climate transition on public budgets, particularly in the Swiss context.

His recent publications show a consistent trend in evaluating fiscal risks from ageing, pandemics, and climate change, using empirical and projection-based models. He contributes extensively to policy reports and academic journals, often in collaboration with colleagues from the Swiss Federal Finance Administration and the University of Basel.

• Do Fiscal Rules Matter? A Survey of Recent Evidence (2024)
• Energy Transition and Public Finances (2024)
• Determinants of Healthcare Expenditure (2025)

He has not been listed with any scientific awards or students. His work is deeply embedded in public policy and academic research, bridging government and academia.

He has been involved in several major collaborative reports, including the Swiss Fiscal Sustainability Reports and OECD publications on green budgeting and local governance. His research is instrumental in shaping fiscal policy frameworks in Switzerland and beyond.