“Something that distinguished Mario Draghi is that when he ran on the court, he always passed the ball, that was how generous he was,” reflects Staffan de Mistura, a UN diplomat and friend of the next Prime Minister of Italy.
“Mario was a team player. He was not the best footballer we had, but he was a good one, and he always had a strategy, he knew which way to go ”, he adds.
Collaboration and a clear sense of direction: exactly the qualities he will need once again Italy’s star economist as he prepares to lead this country in the deepest economic crisis it has experienced since World War II and in the midst of a pandemic that has killed more than 90. 000 Italians.
It is the culmination of a brilliant career for a man whom colleagues and friends describe as “serious” and “trustworthy.”
A traumatic childhood
Mario Draghi , born in 1947 within a wealthy Roman family, he came of age early: he was 15 years when his father, a manager of the Bank of Italy, died.
He lost his mother, a pharmacologist, shortly after.
“I remember the 16 years when I was coming back from a beach vacation with a friend, ”she later recounted,“ and he could do whatever he wanted while I was home with a bunch of letters to attend to. and bills to pay “.
But at school, he remained focused and studious.
There were few signs of personal trauma he was facing, says Staffan de Mistura, who recently served as the United Nations special envoy for Syria.
The Jesuit school at the who attended instilled in him a sense of social duty, he says: a desire to give back to society, that characterized Draghi’s career.
“Firm supporter of the European project”
After a BA in economics from La Sapienza University in Rome and a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the young economist taught at universities in Italy before being appointed, in 1991, general director of the Italian Treasury.
There Among other tasks, he worked on the negotiation of Italy’s accession to the single currency .
In the same committee was Yannis Stournaras, who was working on the Greece membership.
“Mario showed technical experience, but also talent “, recalls Stournaras, who became Greek Finance Minister at the height of the country’s debt crisis in 2012 and is now Governor of the Bank of Greece.
“Our two countries had many problems, but he was a strong negotiator for Italy and a strong supporter of the European project . It was obvious that he would go much further. ”
The prediction was correct: after a period as Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs, Mario Draghi was appointed Governor of the Bank of Italy in 2006 and then, in 2011, President of the European Central Bank , where he frequently dealt with Yannis Stournaras.
Greece was on the verge of defaulting on its massive bailouts and potentially being forced to leave the eurozone.
“The man who is in another place”
“Mario was not in favor of excessive austerity,” says Stournaras, “was more focused on structural reforms. And during the nightly crisis meetings, he kept his very great sense of humor “.
Some leaders of other central banks and ECB connoisseurs were complained of a very uncollegiate leadership style and a tendency to trust only a handful of assistants.
His habit of disappearing from meetings to take a call or speak with an official made him known as “the man who is in another place.”
In 2012, Draghi made a speech that changed the course of the crisis , promising that the European Central Bank would do “whatever it takes to preserve the euro. And trust me, it will be enough. ”
That and the policies that followed led to a steady decline in borrowing costs for indebted members of the eurozone, including Italy, and earned it the nickname of “Super Mario”.
When he left the ECB after eight years, Draghi was asked what his next step would be. “Ask my wife,” he replied.
Draghi, Italy’s “last resort”
Perhaps not even his wife Serena would have foreseen the crisis that toppled Giuseppe Conte as Prime Minister of Italy last month, and the choice of her husband to lead the 67 ° government of Italy since World War II.
“Naming him was the nuclear option, the last resort , since the political parties could not find a majority”, says Enrico Letta, who was Italian Prime Minister for a year in 2013.
Mario Draghi’s approach as Prime Minister will spend more than 200. 000 million euros (US $ 242 . 15 million) of EU recovery funds, “the greatest opportunity to transform Italy since the Marshall Plan of the decade of 1950, ”says Letta.
“It requires that all relevant political forces are on board, and Mario Draghi can join. He is a technocrat but with good political sense, strong bipartisan support here and excellent contacts with Brussels and all European circles ”, he adds.
If there is one person who could potentially save the deep political divisions of Italy , is Mario Draghi. “His special quality is a good combination of speaking and listening,” says the former prime minister.
“Many great leaders speak more than they listen. He has the right balance. ”
Mario Draghi is said to be wearing his wristwatch five minutes late because he is very strict with punctuality.
You will have little time to lose to rebuild your country.
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