20 MARIO DRAGHI
For saving Europe when the politicians couldn't (or wouldn't).
President, European Central Bank | Germany
When Mario Draghi, head of Italy's central bank, was mooted to succeed Jean-Claude Trichet as European Central Bank (ECB) president in 2011, two factors held him back: his stint at Goldman Sachs -- a firm that had helped Greece disguise its debt -- and his nationality. "For Italians, inflation is a way of life, like tomato sauce with pasta!" the German tabloid Bild groused. But "Super Mario" eventually prevailed over his critics (even Bild later conceded, "He's actually pretty German"), and he has since embarked on an aggressive effort to resolve Europe's three-year-old sovereign debt crisis. In the process, he has liberally interpreted the ECB's mandate to control inflation and, just maybe, has established himself as the savior of the European project.
Draghi's boldest move came in September, when he announced that the ECB would buy the bonds of debt-saddled eurozone countries such as Italy and Spain in an effort to bring down their borrowing costs and reassure investors. (A flood of headlines like "Mario Draghi May Become the Man Who Saved Europe -- and the World" followed.) But perhaps it was his vow to do "whatever it takes to preserve the euro" that finally cooled the fever. Draghi's bold moves have helped him win over markets, bankers, and politicians, though nearly one in two Germans mistrusted him on the eve of the bond-buying announcement. After introducing the measure, Draghi offered to allay Germans' concerns by defending his monetary policies before the German parliament. Why volunteer to enter the lion's den? After months of pitched battle with the bond markets, perhaps the Bundestag didn't seem so daunting.
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