mario draghi : in memory of enzo grilli memorial lecture by mr mario draghi, governor of the bank of italy and chairman of the financial stability board, at the johns hopkins university, bologna, 21 february 2011. * 1. * * introduction enzo was not a neoclassical economist, or a keynesian one, a conservative or a liberal. what i miss most is enzo ’ s tendency to challenge intellectual cliches and fads, which made every conversation with him a learning and eye opening experience. he was a truly independent minded person and scholar, passionate at defending his opinions but ready to accept others ’ points of view, if based on sound economic thinking or empirical research. he was a strong believer in free trade but also a firm advocate of market regulation. he defended the global institutions at the time of the antiglobal movement but also openly criticized the influence that the main shareholders exert on those institutions. enzo held important leadership positions both in academic institutions and international organizations. as an official or government representative in these organizations he always resisted political pressures on the decision making process, a factor that made his life difficult on many occasions, but which helped him gain high respect. his brief experience at the italian ministery of budget in the early eighties was one of these episodes. he had a distinctive ability to combine research with actual policy making. in his own words, “ the two aspects – theory and economic policy – cannot be distinguished too clearly from each other ” 1. most of enzo ’ s life was spent in the us but he remained passionately attached to his own country with which he communicated mainly through his opinion pieces on the “ sole 24 ore ”. his last book, “ crescita e sviluppo delle nazioni ” was written in ltalian in order to “ enhance also in our country the reflection on economic development, whose presence or absence has fundamental consequences for “ humanity ” 2. 2. the environment, economic and institutional enzo grilli ’ s thinking as an academic was certainly influenced by his unique exposure, during his many years at the world bank and particularly in the mid - nineties, to the debate on the evolution of the world trade system with an increasing number of developing countries. enzo was a convinced supporter of multilateral trade liberalization. this process culminated at the end of 1994 with the conclusion of the uruguay round and the subsequent establishment of the world trade organization in 1995. for the first time developing countries committed to partly opening their markets and to well

un peu plus d ’ une semaine. en cette matiere, il convient toutefois de rester realiste : la banque nationale n ’ a pas les moyens de mettre la suisse totalement a l ’ abri de perturbations exterieures. comme je vous l ’ indiquais tout a l ’ heure, l ’ economie suisse a souvent souffert des chocs monetaires provenant de l ’ etranger ; la politique monetaire ne peut - au mieux - qu ’ en attenuer les effets negatifs. nous nous efforcerons de lutter contre les mouvements irrealistes du franc. faudrait - il, dans ces conditions, souhaiter purement et simplement un accrochage du franc a l ’ euro? par une operation de ce type, pourrait - on eliminer les risques d ’ un envol du franc sur les marches? malheureusement, il n ’ existe pas de solution miracle. tant que la suisse ne sera pas membre des institutions europeennes, il ne sera pas possible de convaincre les marches que le franc est lie irremediablement a l ’ euro. si nous definissions unilateralement une parite du franc par rapport a l ’ euro, les marches la testeraient. nous attiserions plus que nous calmerions les mouvements de fonds speculatifs. l ’ arrimage unilateral du franc a la monnaie europeenne ne tiendrait donc pas longtemps. 4. conclusions les travaux preparatoires a l ’ union monetaire vont donc bon train. au cours des prochains mois, un certain nombre de details techniques seront encore eclaircis, c ’ est au printemps prochain que sera connue la liste des pays prets a la fusion monetaire. nous n ’ en serons pas. mais nous n ’ en ressentirons pas moins les consequences. j ’ utilise ici le