ECB’s Newest Rate-Setter Has Seen the World Order Collapse Before

Dimitar Radev, who’ll help set euro-zone interest rates from next year, has seen more than his fair share of political upheaval.

The 69-year-old head of Bulgaria’s central bank was a Finance Ministry official in the 1980s when the Communist government abruptly closed it. After witnessing the regime’s eventual collapse and the ministry’s reinstatement, he helped his country emerge from a bout of hyperinflation before joining the push to make it the euro area’s 21st member.