Melvyn Krauss, Columnist

The Euro Can’t Afford Dijsselbloem’s Rookie Mistakes

April 1, 2013 at 10:30 PM UTC

Melvyn Krauss is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and an emeritus professor of economics at New York University.

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How is it that a man like Jeroen Dijsselbloem, with no knowledge of or experience in financial markets, can get appointed to lead the euro-area group of finance ministers, one of the most influential and sensitive jobs in Europe?

Dijsselbloem may be the Netherlands’ finance minister, but his background is as an agricultural economist and right-hand man to the head of the Dutch Labor Party. Neither his training nor his experience gives him insight into the workings of currencies or global financial markets.