Mario Draghi at the head of European Central Bank: an analysis of his mandate based upon the main topics of monetary policy

1 I N T R O D U C T I O N “The euro is like a bumblebee. This is a mystery of nature because it shouldn’t fly but instead it does. So the euro was a bumblebee that flew very well for several years. And now – and I think people ask “how come?” – probably there was something in the atmosphere, in the air, that made the bumblebee fly. Now something must have changed in the air, and we know what after the financial crisis. The bumblebee would have to graduate to a real bee.” 1 With this speech Mario Draghi, the neo-elected President of the European Central Bank, found a way to arrest the deteriorating status of the Euro Area economy at the very peak of the crisis, as I will better explain in the next chapters. The lines of the speech above perfectly represent the purpose Mario Draghi had at the beginning of his mandate. In such a gloomy moment he was able to conceive that background not much as a problem, but instead, like only the great geniuses do, as an opportunity, an opportunity to finally encourage all the Eurozone member-states to understand that in order to have a strong union, the political cohesion is essential. Indeed, the work he delivered as President has been incomparably crucial for the destiny of the project of the Euro, as not only did he save the unique currency, but he also found a way to ultimately strengthen it for the years to come. In this thesis I am going to explain what some of the main topics of monetary policy are and consequently, I will tell the story of Mario Draghi’s mandate at the head of the ECB and what role these policies had in it. 1 Held at the Global Investment Conference, London.