Mario Draghi, Prime Minister of Italy. On the agenda: Covid, an economic crisis and the raising of Italy’s standing in the world.

The man widely credited with averting a past disaster will take on the challenge of Europe’s largest and most worrying economy, which is in the midst of a recession that surpasses anything we witnessed a decade ago. And while Draghi, in his first battle as head of the European Central Bank, could count on titanic powers to buy bonds and quantitative easing, he must now try to harness a runaway political system that left an Italian prime minister after the next president. Draghi is only just starting his job – he officially accepted the position Friday while his cabinet was unveiled – but his arrival amounts to a test of whether a tech expert can carry out yet another bailout, this time as a politician. It is also a vital moment for Italy, which for years has weakened, flirted with the idea of ​​saving Europe, and is now turning its confidence into a brilliant member of the European economic class. “Draghi is like the deus character of the machine,” said Charles Grant, director of the European Correctional Center. “But the Italian repaired [system] The challenges in Italy, emblematic of those in southern Europe, combine the long-term and emergency aspects. Even before the pandemic, the economy was lagging further and further behind the industrial powers of northern Europe, with youth unemployment twice the European average. The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the gap. The tourism industry has collapsed – 13 percent of the Italian economy. The introduction of the slow vaccine, along with a national death toll approaching 100,000, provides a painful reminder that the pandemic is not over yet, but for a nation that has been at its most dangerous since World War II, Draghi’s sudden appearance, after the Italian president chose him to form the majority, It made most Italians quickly imagine potential resilience. Draghi’s approval rating is higher than it was two weeks ago. Parties with skeptical opinions in Europe have long found reasons to stand behind him. Draghi will enter office with a broad majority from left to right, and even as he works to rehabilitate the Italian economy, he can immediately improve the country’s influence on the international stage, given his ties to the highest levels of American funding and his shutdown. In the relationship with the outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel, some critics have spoken of Italy’s third place, between Germany and France, among European decision-makers. Mojtaba Rahman, managing director of Eurasia Group in Europe, said on Twitter that Draghi could flip the power dynamic between the richer northern Europe and the poorer south, by being an exemplary reformer, removing red tape, and transforming the sclerotic labor market in Italy. Rahman wrote: “Draji is a different beast.” Others have placed Draghi’s appointment in terms that make sense for the country. Giulio Sabelli, Draghi’s economist and acquaintance, said that if Draghi had not appeared on the scene, Italy would have been at its “end”, losing its place among the “middle powers” of the world. Draghi, 73, is generally seen as quiet and shy of the media. He largely owes his reputation in Italy for his work during the financial crisis. Experts who followed his decisions closely say he crossed the boundaries of the way the European Central Bank could operate, regularly commuting with German officials – except for Merkel – who felt he was moving recklessly or speaking without consensus. All along, he had to reconcile the interests of 28 member states. “He is a skilled diplomat who has done an exceptional balance,” said Sabelli, his most cited remarks during his eight years at the helm of the central bank, from 2011 to 2019 – that he would do “whatever.” It takes “to stop the crisis – it was an impressive comment, according to a book by Timothy Geithner, former US Treasury Secretary.” This comment marked a turning point in calming market anxiety. Former Greek Finance Minister Yannis Varoufakis, who fought with Draghi during the controversial bailout in Greece, said that Draghi, along with Merkel, were “running Europe”. Varoufakis says that Draghi was one of only two or three people in European institutions “incompetent,” describing Draghi as “smart and efficient”. “But at the same time, he is a political agent who has absolutely no remorse,” said Varoufakis, who now leads the Greek left-wing party, MeRA25. A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss such matters publicly, described Draghi as a “reserved man” who enjoys playing golf, watching basketball and having a British sense of humor. An acquaintance said that Draghi had never seemed particularly interested in entering Italian politics, but that he now did so out of his sense of civic duty because the head of state asked him to do so, and it seems that the Italians, in their enthusiasm for a government led by Draghi, have forgotten some. From their previous displeasure. When Draghi was just starting his job at the European Central Bank, he co-wrote a classified letter to the Italian government – later leaked by the Italian press – calling for changes to labor laws and “spending cuts”. As borrowing costs soared in Italy, then Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi stepped down, and the austerity measures, some of which were implemented by Berlusconi’s successor, were unpopular. Over the next few years, as the economies of southern Europe continued to come under pressure, a new wave of political parties emerged critical of Brussels in Italy and elsewhere across Europe. The Five Star Movement, led by a comedian-turned-politician, began to petition to withdraw Italy from the eurozone and filled its official blog with a scathing portrayal of Draghi. The League, which once called for the succession of northern Italy, has reconfigured itself as a far-right nationalist party, redirecting its anger toward immigrants and the European Union. League leader Matteo Salvini said in 2015 that people in Brussels, armed with “spreads” and funding, were “worse than Mussolini”. The League and the Five Star Movement are now the two largest parties in the Italian Parliament. But for these two parties, and most others, Draghi was an offer they couldn’t turn down. The League’s base, in the industrial north, was impressed by the idea of ​​an economist managing the recovery – and dealing with more than € 200 billion in grants and low-interest loans that Italy would get from Europe. Five-star politicians had their own incentive to support Draghi: If they refuse – and fail to form a government – the new elections will marginalize the party that has lost its place as the most popular party in the country. Mattarella, the president, only after the collapse of the previous administration led by Giuseppe Conte. Draghi was presented as something out of a proposal to save the nation, Mattarella said it was urgent to have a competent government in the midst of the crisis, and now, Draghi has great support almost unimaginable for an Italian leader. But there are reasons for caution. Recovery funds from Europe will be distributed over a period of years, barely making up for a lost year of tourism. Although he will have the opportunity to invest this financing, he will also face potentially harsh decisions, including whether to extend a temporary moratorium on layoffs that has delayed some of the personal pain of the recession. Critics say that if Draghi’s popularity dwindles, parties on the left or the far right could backtrack quickly, and Varoufakis, starting with a list of people whom Draghi will have to please, said, “There is no doubt that there will be discontent.”