Mario Draghi knows about the tie guesses

Earlier today, Mario Draghi’s numero uno press man Michael Steen caused a storm on Twitter by posting a photograph of Mr Draghi ahead of his European Central Bank policy decision meeting, because it revealed the colour of his tie ahead of time. 

 

To the uninitiated it might sound a bit loopy but each month Twitter comes alive ahead of the policy decision announcement with people guessing what colour the governor’s tie will be. Some use the tie colour as an economic indicator, garnering deep meaning from that day’s particular hue.

 

Today, their game was ruined.

 

Well, it all got us wondering. Does Mario Draghi actually know about this elaborate and much-loved guessing game? And it turns out, yes, yes he does. 

 

“Mr Draghi has been made aware of #draghitieguesses,” ultimate game spoiler Steen told us. “But it’s not something I imagine is very near the top of his mind ahead of a Governing Council meeting.”

 

If the game’s not at the top of his mind, then perhaps there’s no significance in the colour of his tie. Or perhaps he’s gaming us. Or perhaps it’s subconscious and he doesn’t realise how his ties directly relate to his announcements.

 

As for Steen, he tells us he didn’t anticipate such a social media storm to follow his photo posting this morning. 

 

“I didn’t anticipate the Twitter fuss when posting the photo this morning. It’s just one of the challenges of greater transparency, I suppose.” 

 

Indeed, Michael, indeed. And why the photo in the first place? 

 

“We wouldn’t normally post photos of the president at the governing council – the reason for doing so today is that it is one of the two per year that are held outside of Frankfurt, this time at the National Bank of Belgium in Brussels.”

 

Well, in the name of transparency, gold star to Michael Steen.