Could Europe’s Dragon Return to Power?

Mario Draghi knows what it’s like to be one of the most powerful economists in history. He led the European Central Bank from 2011 to 2019, steering the eurozone through the sovereign debt crisis. Yet neither in that job nor in his later role as Italian prime minister could he get the European Union to accept the dramatic financial reforms he wanted.

In 2023 he was appointed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to investigate Europe’s economic and industrial decline and suggest how to fix it.

• Draghi demanded a dramatic push to condense the EU into a smaller superstate and to leave behind those nations that insisted on retaining sovereignty. Two years after it was finished, his report is largely ignored and unimplemented.

Now Draghi is back as cofounder of a new think tank, the Rhine Group. In a short letter, he and the other two founders launch a blistering attack on the state of the EU:

Of the 50 largest technology companies in the world, only four are European. In every emerging technology that will shape the coming decades, Europe is weak.

The stakes are existential. If stagnation continues, the continent will progressively lose the ability to fund the core obligations of a modern state: defense, public health care, pensions, education, climate investments and safety nets for those who lose their jobs.

America, they point out, is no longer willing to pay for Europe’s defense. And China is rising as “a fiercer competitor.” They warned:

Decline is not inevitable, but it is the direction we are heading unless we take urgent action.

Draghi tried to transform Europe by working within the bureaucracy. Now he is pushing for change from outside.

But what makes Draghi think he has any hope for success, asks Peter Franklin of UnHerd. After all, the EU has proved itself “structurally incapable of radical change.” Franklin answers:

Well, perhaps it’s his leading role in the eurozone crisis—during which democratic norms were effectively suspended. This allowed the European Central Bank to impose a policy of extreme austerity on countries like Ireland, Spain and Portugal. An especially brutal example was made of Greece—despite its left-wing government.

It is, therefore, possible that a future crisis—for instance, a Europe-wide spike in the cost of servicing public debt or a major attack by a hostile foreign power—could again force the politicians to submit to the technocrats.

• For that reason, I recommend that you pay close attention to the work of the Rhine Group. This might become much more than an elite talking shop. It might be the embryonic program of an EU emergency government.

Is Draghi building the future government of the United States of Europe from the outside?

• Draghi is one of the most experienced and well-connected men in finance. In addition to leading the European Central Bank, he led the Financial Stability Board that helped regulate the global financial system after the 2008 financial crisis.

He is also a Jesuit-trained leader who remains close to the Vatican. When he was first appointed to the ecb, the late Ron Fraser wrote in the Trumpet:

It is of interest in this context to note that the man possesses a Christian name that literally means war, warring or warlike—Mario. But the surname also intrigues—Draghi, meaning dragon.

The Bible makes clear that the soon-coming Holy Roman Empire will dominate global trade (Revelation 18:1-3). Herbert W. Armstrong forecast repeatedly that a collapse in the American-led financial system would bring this European superstate into being. Could Draghi still have a role? As Mr. Fraser concluded: “Interesting to think on.”