Answers: From Central Bank Governor to Leader

A quiz inspired by Mark Carney

Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney is a former head of the country’s central bank. While economists-turned-political leaders are not hard to find, only a few have taken the path from central bank head to prime minister or president. This quiz explores this subset of economists.

Answers:

1) Mark Carney is unique among central bank governors because he held the position in two different countries. Following Canada, where else did he helm the central bank?

United Kingdom. He became the first non-British governor of the Bank of England in 2013 and served in the role until 2020.

2) He was governor of his country’s central bank from 1982 to 1985 and went on to initiate major economic reforms as finance minister during the 1990s. Later he served two terms as prime minister from 2004 to 2014. Who and which country?

Manmohan Singh, India. Singh died in December 2024 at the age of 92. As finance minister from 1991 to 1996, he was a key figure in the opening up of India’s economy. More here, here and here.

The economist-politician emerged as the consensus choice for prime minister in 2004 after his Congress party’s leader Sonia Gandhi declined to take up the position. His policies helped shield India from the worst effects of the 2008 global financial crisis and he led the Congress-led alliance to another five-year term in 2009. But his second term was undermined by a series of corruption scandals and questions over weak leadership, paving the way for the BJP’s return to power helmed by Narendra Modi.

Despite being a two-term prime minister, Manmohan Singh was never directly elected by voters. His only electoral contest ended in defeat in South Delhi in 1999, which I described here in my quiz on Parliamentary Elections in India. Singh had no political background when he was named finance minister in 1991. He was indirectly elected to the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) and served there from 1991 until 2024.

3) He was governor of his country’s central bank from 2005 to 2011. He then headed the European Central Bank for eight years amid the eurozone financial crisis. In February 2021, he was named prime minister of a unity government tasked with pulling the country out of the coronavirus crisis and an economic slump. But he resigned in just over a year, as the fractious coalition crumbled. Who and which country?

Mario Draghi, Italy. His bid for the Italian presidency failed in early 2022. Within months, he resigned as prime minister. The subsequent election saw a right-wing coalition led by Giorgia Meloni come to power.

The European Commission tasked Draghi with preparing a report on the EU’s economic competitiveness. It was released in September 2024.

Both Manmohan Singh and Mario Draghi are featured in my earlier quiz on Academics as National Leaders.

4) This current leader of an African country has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. He worked at the International Monetary Fund as well as the BCEAO (Central Bank of West African States). He was governor of BCEAO from 1988 until 1990 when he was named finance minister of his home country following an economic crisis. Within months, the country’s longtime president appointed him prime minister. He had to leave after the president’s death in 1993 and a subsequent power struggle. In 2011 he was sworn in as president after a disputed election. He’s been in power ever since. Who and which county?

Alassane Ouattara, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). More on the disputed 2010 election involving Ouattara and Laurent Gbagbo in my earlier quiz here on West Africa. Ouattara successfully ran for a third term in 2020, arguing that the two-term limit set in a 2016 constitution does not apply to his first two terms. The 83-year-old leader suggested in January that he is ready to run for a fourth term this year. The presidential election is due in October 2025.

5) Mugur Isarescu is the longest-serving central bank governor anywhere in the world. He was first appointed to the role in 1990 and has held the position ever since, except for a stint as prime minister from 1999 to 2000 as a technocratic stop-gap leader following a political crisis. He was reappointed for another five-year term by parliament in 2024. Which country?

Romania.

6) Josef Tosovky was named head of his country’s central bank in December 1989 after the fall of communism. He was in the role for most of the 1990s except for a short stint as a caretaker prime minister, after the previous PM resigned over a campaign financing scandal. During the time, he initiated banking privatisation and economic reforms that paved the way for his country’s entry into the European Union in 2004. Which country?

Czech Republic (Czechia). Tosovsky was backed by Russia in 2007 in a failed bid to head the International Monetary Fund, losing to the U.S. and EU-backed Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

7) Fritz Alphonse Jean, an economist and former central bank governor this month took over the rotating presidency of his country’s transitional presidential council. The country has been struggling to contain gang violence. Which country?

Haiti. More about Haiti’s troubled history in my quiz below.