Mohamed A. El-Erian , Columnist

Lagarde Is an Inspired and Unusual Choice to Lead the European Central Bank

It’s become almost an impossible job, but she is used to those.

July 2, 2019 at 10:30 PM UTC

Mohamed A. El-Erian is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A former chief executive officer of Pimco, he is president of Queens’ College, Cambridge; chief economic adviser at Allianz SE; and chair of Gramercy Fund Management. He is author of “The Only Game in Town.”

She’s got this.
Photographer: Ludovic Marin/AFP, via Getty Images

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Christine Lagarde, nominated on Tuesday to lead the European Central Bank, will need all her proven attributes, and help from others, to succeed as the new leader of one of the world’s three most systemically important central banks. An inspired choice, she is uniquely well placed to build on her accomplishments as the managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

In tapping Lagarde for Europe’s most visible economic post, Europe’s political leaders established several precedents: