Mario Draghi

Mario Draghi
OMRI
Draghi in 2021
Prime Minister of Italy
In office
13 February 2021 – 22 October 2022
PresidentSergio Mattarella
Preceded byGiuseppe Conte
Succeeded byGiorgia Meloni
President of the European Central Bank
In office
1 November 2011 – 31 October 2019
Vice PresidentVítor Constâncio
Luis de Guindos
Preceded byJean-Claude Trichet
Succeeded byChristine Lagarde
Chair of the Financial Stability Board
In office
2 April 2006 – 4 November 2011
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byMark Carney
Governor of the Bank of Italy
In office
16 January 2006 – 31 October 2011
Preceded byAntonio Fazio
Succeeded byIgnazio Visco
Personal details
Born (1947-09-03) 3 September 1947 (age 77)
Rome, Italy
Political partyIndependent
Spouse
Serena Cappello
​
(m. 1973)​
Children2
EducationSapienza University of Rome (BEc, MSc)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD)
Signature
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Mario Draghi

Mario Draghi OMRI (Italian: [ˈmaːrjo ˈdraːɡi]; born 3 September 1947) is an Italian economist, academic, banker, statesman and civil servant who served as the prime minister of Italy from February 2021 to October 2022.[1][2][3] Prior to his appointment as prime minister, he served as President of the European Central Bank (ECB) between 2011 and 2019. Draghi was also Chair of the Financial Stability Board between 2009 and 2011, and Governor of the Bank of Italy between 2006 and 2011.[4]

After a lengthy career as an academic economist in Italy, Draghi worked for the World Bank in Washington, D.C., throughout the 1980s, and in 1991 returned to Rome to become Director General of the Italian Treasury. He left that role after a decade to join Goldman Sachs, where he remained until his appointment as Governor of the Bank of Italy in 2006. His tenure as Governor coincided with the 2008 Great Recession, and in the midst of this he was selected to become the first Chair of the Financial Stability Board, the global standard-setter that replaced the Financial Stability Forum.

He left those roles after his nomination by the European Council in 2011 to serve as President of the ECB. He presided over the institution during the Eurozone crisis, becoming famous throughout Europe for saying that he would be prepared to do "whatever it takes" to prevent the euro from failing.[5][6] In 2014, Draghi was listed by Forbes as the eighth-most powerful person in the world. In 2015, Fortune magazine ranked him as the world's "second greatest leader".[7] He is also the only Italian to be listed three times in the Time 100 annual listicle.[8] In 2019, Paul Krugman described him as "the greatest central banker of modern times."[9] Moreover, thanks to his monetary policies, he is widely considered the "saviour of the euro" during the European debt crisis.[10][11][12] He has been nicknamed Super Mario by some media, a nickname that was popularised during his time as President of the ECB, when he was credited by numerous sources as having played a key role in combatting the Eurozone crisis.[13][14]

After Draghi's term as ECB President ended in 2019, he initially returned to private life. On 3 February 2021, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, Draghi was invited by President Sergio Mattarella to form a government of national unity (Draghi Cabinet), following the resignation of Giuseppe Conte.[15][16][17] After successful negotiations with parties including the League (Lega), the Five Star Movement (M5S), the Democratic Party (PD), and Forza Italia (FI), Draghi was sworn in as prime minister on 11 February,[18] pledging to oversee effective implementation of COVID-19 economic stimulus.[19] Draghi has been rated highly in public opinion polls in Italy during his time as prime minister; at the end of his first year in office Politico Europe ranked him as the most powerful person in Europe and The Economist named Italy as "Country of the Year", singling out Draghi's leadership as central to its nomination.[20][21]

On 14 July 2022, the M5S revoked support to Draghi's coalition government regarding a decree concerning economic stimulus to offset the energy crisis. On the same day, despite having largely won the confidence vote, Draghi announced his resignation as prime minister, which was rejected by President Mattarella.[22] On 21 July, Draghi resigned for a second time following the failure of the confidence vote to pass with an absolute majority due to the withdrawals of M5S, Lega, and FI. On the same day, President Mattarella accepted the resignation and Draghi remained in office as caretaker prime minister.[23][24] He was succeeded by Giorgia Meloni on 22 October 2022.[25][26]

  1. ^ "Draghi ha dato le dimissioni". 21 July 2022. Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Mario Draghi sworn in as Italy's new prime minister". BBC News. 13 February 2021. Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Nasce il governo di Mario Draghi, con 8 tecnici e 15 ministri di sei partiti". Rai News (in Italian). 13 February 2021. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Banca d'Italia – Mario Draghi" (in Italian). Bank of Italy. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  5. ^ "'Whatever it takes' – a speech and its implications for the euro area". www.kfw.de. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Mario Draghi: The euro is irreversible". 15 June 2018. Archived from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Mario Draghi". Fortune. Archived from the original on 1 November 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  8. ^ "Mario Draghi tra i 100 di "Time" (per la terza volta): unico italiano". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 15 September 2021. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  9. ^ Krugman, Paul (24 May 2019). "Opinion | After Draghi (Wonkish)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  10. ^ Johnson, Miles; Arnold, Martin (5 February 2021). "Mario Draghi: the euro's saviour called to serve Italy". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Il saluto del salvatore dell'euro – MilanoFinanza.it". MF Milano Finanza (in Italian). 25 October 2019. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  12. ^ "Mario Draghi, eurozone saviour, now called to Italy's side". France 24. 3 February 2021. Archived from the original on 17 June 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Draghi, dal liceo a Roma alla guida della Bce: la storia di SuperMario". Sky TG24 (in Italian). Archived from the original on 19 October 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  14. ^ "'Super' Mario Draghi sworn in as Italy's new PM – can he save its economy like he saved the euro?". Sky News. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Mattarella invites Draghi to form a new government". 2 February 2021. Archived from the original on 2 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021 – via Il Fatto Quotidiano.
  16. ^ Johnson, Miles; Ghiglione, Davide (3 February 2021). "Mario Draghi accepts mandate to form new Italian government". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 3 February 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  17. ^ Horowitz, Jason (12 February 2021). "A Giant of Europe Prepares to Head Italy's New Unity Government". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 15 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  18. ^ "Mario Draghi sworn in as prime minister of Italy". The Guardian. 13 February 2021. Archived from the original on 13 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  19. ^ Giuffrida, Angela (12 February 2021). "Mario Draghi's new government to be sworn in on Saturday". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  20. ^ "POLITICO 28: Class of 2022". POLITICO. 6 July 2021. Archived from the original on 8 January 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  21. ^ "The Economist crowns Italy 'Country of the Year'". 16 December 2021. Archived from the original on 6 February 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  22. ^ Harlan, Chico; Pitrelli, Stefano (14 July 2022). "Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi says he'll resign, government faces collapse". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  23. ^ "Draghi si è dimesso, il presidente Mattarella ha sciolto le Camere: l'Italia al voto il 25 settembre". 21 July 2022. Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  24. ^ Prima il messaggio alla Camera, poi Draghi si dimette al Quirinale Archived 21 July 2022 at the Wayback Machine, Il Sole 24 Ore
  25. ^ "Il governo Meloni giurerà domani mattina al Quirinale" (in Italian). RAI. 21 October 2022. Archived from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  26. ^ "Nuovo governo, le news. Meloni accetta l'incarico, domani alle 10 il giuramento". Sky TG24 (in Italian). 21 October 2022. Archived from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.