M.S. Gradinger Verena
Freie Universität Berlin
Promotionskolleg EQUALFIN
PhD Projekt "Safe Assets for Whom? The Role of Sovereign Bonds for International Monetary Hierarchy and Global Inequality"
Room K022
14195 Berlin
Education
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Since 10/2026 |
PhD Student, EQUALFIN |
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09/2024 – 09/2025 |
Master degree (MSc) in “Development Economics” at SOAS University of London |
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10/2020 – 06/2024 |
Bachelor degree (BSc) in “Business, Economics and Social Science” (Major: Economics) at Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU) |
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10/2019 – 03/2024 |
Bachelor degree (BA) in “Political Science” at University of Vienna |
Work Experience
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Since 02/2025 |
Research Associate, Global Climate Forum, Berlin (OBFA-TRANSFORM: The Political Economy of Financing Large-Scale Transformations) |
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02/2026 – 06/2026 |
External Lecturer, University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna |
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06/2022 – 06/2024 |
Student Coordinator, Center for Students of Economics, Department of Economics, WU Vienna |
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10/2020 – 06/2024 |
Tutor in “Politics and Law”, Department of Political Science, University of Vienna |
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08/2022, 08/2023 – 09/2023 |
Intern, Research Funding Group, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB), Vienna |
Research Project
Project Title: “Safe Assets for Whom? The Role of Sovereign Bonds for International Monetary Hierarchy and Global Inequality”
Supervisors: Prof. Barbara Fritz, Dr. Steffen Murau
In her research, Verena examines the role of sovereign bonds in the hierarchy of money and their contribution to global inequalities. Her project analyses how government debt functions both as a ‘safe asset’ in financial markets and as a core component of modern credit money creation. Focusing on US Treasuries as the anchor of the international money hierarchy, she traces who holds sovereign debt and how the demand for safe assets relates to the distribution of wealth and profits across sectors and countries. Drawing on the Monetary Architecture framework, she combines balance-sheet analysis with flow-of-funds data and financial econometrics to investigate how public debt and private finance have become intertwined through interna tional markets. A central question is how this affects the monetary sovereignty of states, especially in the periphery of the global financial system. Her research contributes to debates on the nature of modern capitalist money, state–market relations, and how the international monetary hierarchy shapes inequalities within and between countries.