ROME – Mario Draghi, the former head of the European Central Bank, became a hero to financial markets and the European Union after ending the continent’s debt crisis by pledging to “do everything” to save the euro.
That could turn out to be the easy part. Draghi now has to show he has what it takes to become Italy’s next prime minister, convince the country’s troubled parties to back him up, and turn a protracted economic downturn into the depths of the worst pandemic in a century.
The future of the euro could again depend on how Mr Draghi does it. The Eurozone’s third-largest economy, after Germany and France, is also its biggest long-term problem. Italy’s debt is high, growth is chronically low, and society is becoming increasingly frustrated.
Since Brexit, the EU’s political establishment has thrown a nervous look at Italian public opinion, which saw Europe as the answer to Italy’s woes, but now sometimes sees the EU and the euro as part of the problem. Mr Draghi, a supporter of the European project, will try to convince Italians that their problems are homemade.
The recovery of the Italian economy is a puzzle that has defied the efforts of many renowned technocrats and reformist politicians over the past quarter century.