Mario Draghi’s departure from the ECB doesn’t bode well, either. He is set to be replaced by Christine Lagarde, former head of the IMF, but with limited resources left, she needs to carefully manage expectations when it comes to the frequency of any further rate cuts. There’s also the challenge posed by the legacy of the Outright Monetary Transaction program. The legality of this scheme – which allows the ECB to buy unlimited quantities of government debt to avoid any speculative ‘run’ on a member state’s sovereign bonds – has already been tested in court. The European Court of Justice may have approved the use of ... (full story)