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Looking for clues on Lagarde’s thinking as E.C.B. chief

As the I.M.F.’s managing director, Christine Lagarde was one of the most recognizable and powerful women on the planet. But as she takes on her new role as president of the E.C.B., few know her worldview or how she might operate as a central banker. That could begin to change today.

Analysts and investors will be listening closely for clues about her stance on various issues when she gives her first news conference in the role. One of the main questions will be whether the central bank’s fire hose of economic stimulus is doing more harm than good, Jack Ewing of the NYT writes.

Ms. Lagarde has signaled that she will question the assumptions underlying central bank policy since the euro began to circulate two decades ago. And she is overseeing a comprehensive review of central bank strategy that could redefine its role.

“She’ll be very pragmatic, in my opinion, as was her predecessor and as I was myself,” Jean-Claude Trichet, who led the E.C.B. from 2003 to 2011, told Bloomberg.