Tuesday, 1 November 2011

Trichet´s true legacy



European and international media have been full of praise for the French civil servant Jean-Claude Trichet, who yesterday retired as the president of the European Central Bank

Trichet, who has been celebrated as the "de facto president of Europe" and "the only one who´s delivered the leadership necessary during this crisis"  (Marco Valli, chief economist at UnicCredit Global Research), has also been portrayed as a great humanist, with an interest in books and history (German television documentary).

However, what most political and media eulogists have chosen to forget is, that Trichet also was one of the main architects of the crisis-ridden euro project, that was built on a political, not economical foundation. That tragic mistake - not his stint at the ECB - will be his true legacy.

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