Jens Weidmann, president of the German Bundesbank, appears to be shaping up well as the potential next head of the European Central Bank, possibly well before the eight-year term of Mario Draghi, the incumbent, expires at the end of October 2019. In contrast to his predecessor, Axel Weber, who in 2011 rejected the possibility of taking the ECB helm because of what he believed would be impossible conditions for success, Weidmann has hard-to-beat credentials. But his appointment at the center of the 18-member economic and monetary union (EMU) would be deeply controversial. Some non-Germans would interpret it as a sign ... (full story)