Traders tag new ECB boss Lagarde as a pushover. Wrongly. – Wall Street Journal

Christine Lagarde comes across as far too elegant to be an iconoclast. But on behalf of her sex, the French politician has broken a number of previously impenetrable glass ceilings – as French Finance minister, then IMF managing director and now as the governor-in-waiting of the European Central Bank. Having indulged in a lengthy outdoor breakfast with her one sunny morning in Davos – long before she was quite so famous – I can attest to her charm. But even then there was a steely undertone, an iron fist in the velvet glove. The world will soon get the opportunity to see that side of Ms Lagarde, but for the moment, bond traders seem to have tagged her as a push-over, sending rates to record lows on the view that, as a politician, she's sure to pump more cash into the European system. That is rather poor judgement, methinks. – Alec Hogg

By Paul Davies

(The Wall Street Journal) – Christine Lagarde's nomination to lead the European Central Bank sent investors scrambling to buy more government debt Wednesday in a bet that she will oversee an easing of monetary policy to support the economy and markets.

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