Econintersect: Mario Draghi, governor of the Banca d’Italiano, appears to be very high on the list of possible replacements for Jean-Claude Trichet as head of the European Central Bank. Axel Weber, outgoing president of Deutsche Bundesbank, has taken himself out of the running. A candidate from Finland has also withdrawn. There is political opposition to Draghi, especially in Germany, according to Der Spiegel. But he does appear to have the support of French President Sarkozy and possibly also of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.Also, the Italian is held in very high regard professionally. Perhaps Draghi should be called “super Mario,” as indicated in the following excerpt from Der Spiegel:
Prominent economists around the world, including the American Nouriel Roubini, believe in Draghi. Finance Ministers like Luc Frieden, from Luxembourg, describe him as “impressive and intelligent.” Former German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück says that Draghi “is always very independent, very quiet and technically excellent” at international financial summits like the G-8 or the G-20. In the banking headquarters in the City of London — where he served for a few years as European head of the American investment bank Goldman Sachs — he’s known as “Super Mario.”
The Financial News, a British trade journal, named him second on a list of the most influential people in European finance, behind Deutsche Bank investment chief Anshu Jain. (The head of Deutsche Bank, Josef Ackermann, hovers at slot six, while Axel Weber from the Bundesbank and Jean-Claude Trichet languish far below.) “The entire international financial establishment supports Draghi,” says a Brussels insider quoted in the Financial Times Deutschland. He’s supposedly “the best man Europe has to offer.”
Source: Der Spiegel
