The Man Inside

Overview

"To go from point A to point B in Europe is rarely a straight line. Actually, trying to take a straight line is often the best way not to get to destination." This is one of the lessons Marco Buti, one of the very few top policy makers who went through the financial and the sovereign debt crises and, lately, the pandemic crisis, which plagued the European Union over the past twelve years. This book, which brings together his real time input to the economic and policy debate, traces the intellectual journey leading to the design and implementation under duress of difficult policies and controversial reforms. His contribution is the graphic demonstration of Jean Monnet's dictum that Europe will be forged in crises and will be the outcome of the responses to those crises. It shows the analytical and empirical foundations of choices that involved a delicate balance between economic, institutional and political considerations. What emerges is a new compass that helps understand the policy strategy the EU has adopted to fight the economic fallout of the pandemics.

Reviews

"Marco Buti and I have not always agreed on issues of economic policy. But I cannot think of somebody more qualified to tell us about the travails of Europe since the Great Financial Crisis. He was there all along. He had a deep understanding of the complex macro and micro economic issues at stake. And he was intellectually honest. An exceptional combination, reflected in this book giving his reflections in real time (something few policy makers would dare to do, preferring to rewrite history and their role in a more convenient way)." —Olivier Blanchard, Senior Fellow at Peterson Institute for International Economics

"This collection of VoXEU contributions shows how history is made. Marco Buti, a man inside the vortex of the making of European Monetary history produced and published a steady stream of reflections, analysis and reform proposals on VoxEU. The collection reminds us of how far the European Monetary Union has come in the wake of two deep crises.The man inside can certainly take a share of the credit and his writings over the last decade are worth rereading, not only for historical purposes." —Beatrice Weder Di Mauro, President of the Centre for Economic Policy Research

Author Biography

Marco Buti has been Director-General for Economic and Financial Affairs at the European Commission since December 2008, after a 6-month period as acting Director-General. Adam J. Tooze is Professor at Columbia University and Director of the European Institute. Martin Sandbu is the Financial Times's European Economics Commentator.