Ewald Nowotny () (born June 28, 1944, in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

) is an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

politician and former governor of Austria's central bank

Oesterreichische Nationalbank The (, , abbr. ) is the National central bank (Eurosystem), national central bank for Austria within the Eurosystem. It was the Austrian central bank from 1923 to 1938 and from 1945 to 1998, issuing the Austrian schilling, shilling. It star ...

. He was also a member of the

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central component of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#International ...

’s governing council.

Early life and education

Nowotny graduated with a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

from the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

in 1966, took his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

at the

Johannes Kepler University Linz The Johannes Kepler University Linz (German: ''Johannes Kepler Universität Linz'', short: ''JKU'') is a public university in Austria. It is located in Linz, the capital of Upper Austria. It offers bachelor's, master's, diploma and doctoral degre ...

in 1972 and was a full professor at the Vienna University of Economics and Business from 1981 until 2008.

Political career

Since 1974, Nowotny has held various functions in the Austrian Social Democratic Party. He was a member of the National Council, the more important chamber of the Austrian parliament, from 1978 to 1999.

Career at financial institutions

From 1999 to 2003, Nowotny was vice president of the

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt sol ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. From the beginning of 2006 until mid-2008, he was CEO of BAWAG P.S.K. During his time in office, he managed BAWAG’s sale to US buyout-fund Cerberus Capital. Since September 2008 Nowotny has served as Governor in Austria's central bank

and as a member of the ECB governing council. With the 2011 round of the Greek financial crisis, " me analysts awsigns of growing tensions between European officials and the ratings agencies" and Nowotny gave voice to the concern, saying "that rating companies were making it more difficult to stabilize the Greek debt situation. 'We have a somewhat strange situation. The banks themselves are ready, because they also have an interest in that, to stabilize Greece,' Nowotny said in Vienna, according to Dow Jones Newswires. 'The ratings agencies are being in this European matter much stricter and more aggressive than in, for example, similar cases in South America.'” In summer 2011, Nowotny said it's the ECB's responsibility to decide whether or not to accept Greek debt as collateral in case rating agencies slap the country with a default rating. “At the end of the day it has to be the decision of the ECB. The ECB should not be totally dependent on rating agencies,” Nowotny said in an interview with CNBC. “It is our own responsibility, our own decision. We have proved this in the case of Ireland, Greece and Portugal, with regard to what kind of collateral we accept.” In May 2015, with a new round of the

Greek government-debt crisis Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family ** Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kn ...

, Nowotny said while discussions "may be refreshing by bringing in new ideas" "but at the end of the day, they must nd inresults", adding that discussions are "not about playing games" and are "more a political question than an economic question." He said at the same time that he "doesn't see the ECB's role as creating a federalized financial government inside the euro zone." He wants to regulate and have legal restraint at Bitcoin.

Other activities

Corporate boards

* Scope Group, Member of the Advisory * Rantum Capital, Member of the Advisory Board

International organizations

(ECB), Ex-Officio Member of the Governing Council * European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), Ex-Officio Member *

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

(IMF), ex-officio member of the board of governors

Non-profit organizations

* Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO), member of the board * Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), member of the board of trustees * European Forum Alpbach, member of the council * Trilateral Commission, member of the European Group

Personal life

Nowotny is married and has a son. His private interests include reading, collecting old books, sailing, archaeology and modern art.Christian Distasio (September 10, 2008)
Dove with no pigeon hole
'' European Voice''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nowotny, Ewald 1944 births 21st-century Austrian economists Austrian people of Czech descent Governors of Oesterreichische Nationalbank Johannes Kepler University Linz alumni Living people Members of the 14th National Council (Austria) Members of the 15th National Council (Austria) Members of the 16th National Council (Austria) Members of the 17th National Council (Austria) Members of the 18th National Council (Austria) Members of the 19th National Council (Austria) Members of the 20th National Council (Austria) Politicians from Vienna Social Democratic Party of Austria politicians