Thread by @henrikenderlein

The least important criterion in choice of next ECB President is nationality. Here is what really matters. Thread.

Criterion 1: Guts & independence. Someone capable of telling European Council, BILD or Piketty they are dead wrong. Someone who reads Proust when markets panic. 1/

Criterion 2: Macroeconomic nerdiness. We need someone who gets excited by Baumol’s cost disease, MMT and single-limb collective action clauses. If you are able to spot mistakes in the Bayesian estimates of Smets-Wouters, then the ECB Presidency could be for you. /2

Criterion 3: Know markets & banks. Someone who thinks the statement by the ignorant guy on Squawk Box is as important for banks stocks as MREL - bur who doesn’t care about either. Someone who likes to meditate over shapes of yield curves while watching VIX get out of control. /3

Criterion 4: Be a true European. Someone who knows it’s part of the implicit ECB mandate to keep the € together - but says so in extreme contexts only. Someone who thinks European, then tries to recall her nationality. Someone ready to enjoy Äppelwoi if this is what it takes.

Criterion 5: A woman.

I sum: no candidate has it all. But several get close. The ECB boss is one of the most important policy-makers in the world. Governments shouldn’t take the choice lightheartedly. Exclude no one. Appoint the right one. Nationality really doesn’t matter. /