Mario Draghi: “Following through with the consequences”

ECB President Mario Draghi gave a speech last week at the University of Helsinki entitled “Stability and Prosperity in Monetary Union”, that to me almost had a Mafioso tone to it. Draghi is steadfast in his belief that the Euro is here to stay but almost to the point that implies member states are now trapped in this “political construct”, repeatedly using words like irrevocable, binding and permanently. “Members have to be better off inside than they would be outside….if one country can potentially leave the monetary union, then this creates a replicable precedent for all countries. The euro is – and has to be – irrevocable in all its member states, not just because the Treaties say so, but because without this there cannot be a truly single money.” That iconic scene from Godfather III comes to mind when Michael Corleone laments the fact that he can never escape the Mafia life; “Just when I thought I was out….they pull me back in”. It looks like our future is in a more centrally planned Europe, for good or for bad.