‘The Recovery of Europe After the Pandemic Will Be Like That After World War II’

The recovery of Europe after the coronavirus pandemic will be similar to that after World War II, and education and investment in youth will be key for growth and change, said former European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi.

The pandemic threatens to devastate human capital on a scale not seen since World War II, so the recovery must focus on people who will have to repay unprecedented amounts of debt accumulated this year, Draghi said at a lecture in Rimini.

– We should seek inspiration from those who participated in the recovery of the world, Europe, and Italy after World War II – he emphasized.

– The debt created by the pandemic is unprecedented and will primarily have to be repaid by today’s youth. Therefore, it is our duty to equip them with the means to service it – he stated.

Low interest rates do not automatically make debt sustainable, warned the former ECB president, emphasizing that money must be used for production, including investments in human capital, productive infrastructure, and research. Consumption must, in his opinion, reflect a change in social priorities towards environmental protection, better healthcare and digitalization, given the expected greater prevalence of working from home.

– One area is crucial for growth and thus for all the changes I just listed. In that area, we need to connect long-term vision with immediate action – he stated, adding that it is about education and, in general, investments in youth.

Europe must also reaffirm some of its key principles in the changes, including multilateralism and equality before the law, which global powers like the USA and China are calling into question, Draghi added.

The former ECB president rarely speaks in public since the end of his term in early November 2019, Reuters notes.

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