Mario Draghi's Favorite Joke
Who said central bankers have no sense of humour? During a recent dinner at Frankfurt's Senckenberg Museum (the home of Germany's most extensive collection of dinosaurs) Mario Draghi told the crowd his favourite joke:
A man needs a heart transplant. Says the doctor: "I can give you the heart of a five-year old boy." "Too young." "How about that of a forty-year old investment banker?" "They don't have a heart." "A seventy-five year old central banker?" "I'll take it." "But why?" "It's never been used!"
I like the joke, and not only because I consider myself an economist working for an investment bank rather than an investment banker. Mario Draghi's joke conveys a simple but important message: central banking is about making rational, cool-headed and unemotional decisions in often difficult circumstances. In the 15 years of its existence as the keeper of the euro, the ECB led by Mario Draghi and his predecessors Jean-Claude Trichet and Wim Duisenberg has had to make a lot of difficult decisions in difficult circumstances. A few of these decisions were questionable (though typically only with the benefit of hindsight), such as the rate cut in April 1999 or the rate hikes in July 2008 and in April and July 2011. Most of the other ECB decisions were just right or even hugely successful - just think of Mario Draghi's announcement in July 2012 to "do whatever it takes" to safeguard the euro.
Now of course, the ECB is at another big decision moment. Pricing data has been coming in very weak, and there's pressure on Draghi to cut rates or do something further to try boosting inflation. Will they do it? The meeting's Thursday. And we'll be discussing it until then.