New ECB president faces Herculean task

Of all the major positions in global finance, none is probably more daunting, nor likely to be less rewarding, than the presidency of the European Central Bank, says Matthew Lynn.

There's no shortage of really terrible financial jobs out there. But of all the major positions in global finance, none is probably more daunting, nor likely to be less rewarding, than the presidency of the European Central Bank (ECB).

Within the next year the leaders of the European Union will have to choose a new president for the central bank: Jean-Claude Trichet, the French incumbent, is due to stand down in 2011. There is already plenty of jostling for position. The two front-runners are Mario Draghi, a former Goldman Sachs executive, and now the governor of the Bank of Italy, and Axel Weber, a monetary economist who now runs the Bundesbank. Many other candidates are likely to emerge over the next few months. But whoever gets the job will have a Herculean task.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.