Axel has graduated from the University of Göttingen with a master’s degree in Economics. While studying he specialized on development economics. During his studies he participated in internships with Koc Group in Istanbul, Friedrich-Ebert- Foundation in Seoul, news-agency Reuters in Bonn and multinational corporation Unilever in Hamburg. He wrote his M.A. thesis about the interplay of government, bureaucracy and the private sector in South Korea. Since 1999 Axel works as a journalist. There he specialized on the fields of finance, central bank policy and general trends in the world economy, but he also covers topics relating to politics and aerospace. He has published two books about Russia. His research focus is on state capitalism with special regard to the developmental phases of South Korea, Russia and Kazakhstan.