Lorenzo Bini Smaghi Keynote Speaker

Dr. Lorenzo Bini Smaghi is an Italian economist who was a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB) from 2005 to 2011. Before joining the ECB, Dr Bini Smaghi was Director General for International Financial Relations of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Dr. Bini Smaghi started his career in 1983 as an Economist at the Research Department of the Banca d’Italia . In 1994 he became Head of the Policy Division of the European Monetary Institute, and later became Director General for International Affairs in the Italian Treasury in 1998.

Dr. Bini Smaghi has published extensively in monetary and international economics and is the author of several articles and books on international and European monetary and financial issues. Dr Bini Smaghi’s most recent book is entitled Austerity, European Democracies against the Wall (CEPS, 2013), in which he argues that the eurozone crisis reflects the inability of western democracies to solve problems that have been building for over two decades. He is currently member of the A-List of commentators for the Financial Times.

He grew up in Brussels (Belgium), acquiring a knowledge of foreign languages at an early age. In 1974, he graduated from the Lycee Francais de Bruxelles. In 1978, Mr. Bini Smaghi graduated in Economics from the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium). In 1980, he received a master’s degree in Economics from the University of Southern California and a PhD from the University of Chicago in 1988.

Lorenzo Bini Smaghi currently serves as chairman of Snam and of Societe Generale.