In 2012, Mario Draghi pledged to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro when he led the European Central Bank. Earlier this month, the former Italian Prime Minister released a report on ‘The Future of EU Competitiveness,’ which was intended to jolt the stalling European economy into high gear. The report recommends three priorities: First, Europe must refocus its collective efforts on closing the innovation gap with the U.S. and China so that it can remain a player in emerging technologies. Second, the EU needs to pursue decarbonization objectives while remaining competitive. And third, the EU should increase its security and reduce external dependencies, by pursuing access to critical raw materials, developing its own digital services, and strengthening its defense industry. Draghi’s report contains many proposals addressing these three priorities, calibrated to be implementable over the next few years. But EU member states will need to coalesce around a coherent plan to boost growth and rescue the European economy.
Is this the “whatever it takes 2.0” moment for Europe’s economy? Join the American Council on Germany on October 2 for a virtual discussion with Prof. Dr. Michael Hüther, Director and Member of the Presidium at the Cologne Institute for Economic Research. He has written extensively about German and European industrial policy against the backdrop of the Zeitenwende and about the need for investment in infrastructure and transformation – and the pressures that is putting on Germany’s debt brake. He will be in conversation with ACG Board member Tara Hariharan. She is Managing Director of Global Macro Research at NWI Management LP, a New York-based global macro hedge fund.
ACG Board member Tara Hariharan is Managing Director of Global Macro Research at NWI Management LP, a New York-based global macro hedge fund with an emphasis on emerging markets. As head of macro research for the firm since 2012, she focuses on economic activity, macro-political trends, and policy in the U.S. and China, and is a keen student of European political economy. Ms. Hariharan directs top-down analysis of macroeconomic data, monetary and fiscal policy, and political trends for countries and regions worldwide, as well as maintenance and constant evolution of NWI’s “macro dashboard” with a strategic focus on potential investment opportunities in fixed income, equities, foreign exchange, and commodities. Her analysis is notably informed by sustained dialogue with a diverse group of high-level global policymakers in both developed and emerging markets.
Ms. Hariharan earned a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology summa cum laude from Princeton University in 2007. She was awarded a 2014 American Marshall Memorial Fellowship by the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Ms. Hariharan has been a member of the Council on Foreign Relations since 2017. She is also closely involved with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and has been a member of the Chamber’s Chief Economists’ Committee since the summer of 2020. She was elected a member of the Inter-American Dialogue in July 2021 and is a 2022 Economic Club of New York Fellow. She was an ACG Young Leader in 2016.
Prof. Dr. Michael Hüther studied Economics and History at the Justus-Liebig University in Giessen from 1982 to 1987. Upon completion of his doctorate in Economics, in 1991 he became a member of the scientific staff of the Council of Experts for the Evaluation of Macroeconomic Development. In 1995 he was appointed Secretary General of the German Council of Economic Advisers. In 1999, he joined DekaBank as chief economist and in 2001 additionally as Division Manger economics and communication. Since August 2001 Prof. Hüther is Honorary Professor at the European Business School in Oestrich-Winkel.
In July 2004 he was appointed Director and Member of the Presidium of the German Economic Institute. Since April 2019 Prof. Hüther has served as the Chair of the supervisory board of TÜV Rheinland AG. He serves as Vice Chairman of the Atlantik-Brücke.
