Mario Draghi

Just over a year ago, the eurozone seemed to be on the verge of collapse. Yields were soaring everywhere, even in "core" countries like France, not to mention Spain and Italy, where things were plunging rapidly.

Everybody knew that the ultimate backstop had to come from the European Central Bank, the only entity in Europe with an unlimited amount of money. But there was a problem: The ECB's mandate is limited, and there's a strong influence from the Germans, who are very opposed to any whiff of printing money and monetizing government debt.

But via two moves, Draghi helped save the project.

Late in 2011, he announced a program whereby all eurozone banks could borrow money cheaply, using all sorts of collateral, for up to three years. This soothed the banking system.

Then over the summer, he made his bombshell announcement. On July 26, with sovereign borrowing costs spiking again, he said the ECB was 'ready to do whatever it takes' to save things. And then he added for emphasis "it will be enough."

Not long after, he announced the ECB's OMT (outright monetary transactions) scheme, whereby the ECB could buy government debt in unlimited amounts, so long as the country in question was reforming. The way it gets around German objections and stays within the ECB's narrow mandate, is by arguing that it's necessary to depress yields, so that the transmission of stable monetary policy can be achieved. German central bankers don't like it, but Angela Merkel is cool with it, and that's what's key.

The scheme still hasn't been used, but just the fact that it's there has resulted in a huge reduction in borrowing costs for countries like Spain and Italy.

The Eurozone project survives, thanks to Draghi's creative thinking.

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