First, two pointers from Mark Thoma. Jeff Frankel calls this the hour of the technocrat.
Obvious disadvantages of some technocrats include lack of managerial experience, lack of perceived legitimacy, and lack of a domestic political powerbase. Monti and Papademos both have managerial experience and, for now, perceived legitimacy. The last of the three factors will be the limiting factor for them.
Charles Wyplosz lists the formidable challenges, including
It is possible, however, to build solid incentives within a decentralised system. For instance, for its refinancing operations the ECB could only accept as collateral bonds issued by governments that rigorously operate a well-designed fiscal rule. The blue-red Eurobond proposal is another, additional solution. Independent national and Eurozone-level fiscal policy committees can also play a useful role. More ideas could be forthcoming. The point is that the policymaker mindset seems to remain stuck in the centralisation track, which requires further integration that may not pass the hurdle of increasingly eurosceptic public opinions.
Last, but by no means least Tyler Cowen talks with Russ Roberts about what is going on. It starts out pithily, and just gets better, ending on a note of Have a Nice Day.
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