Mario Draghi has divided critics during his eight years as president of the European Central Bank and none more so than the Germans. In 2011, the conservative German tabloid Bild backed him by giving him a pickelhaube — a Prussian spiked army helmet — as it pronounced him the “most German of all the remaining candidates”. But just a year later it was asking for its helmet back after he pledged to do “whatever it takes” to shore up the euro. “No more German money for bankrupt states, Herr Draghi!” it proclaimed. When asked about the helmet’s fate, he said: “Geschenkt ist geschenkt” — a gift is a gift — adding: “I plan to keep it.”…

Source: The Times October 24, 2019 23:10 UTC