Two women, close friends, are trying to remake the economic landscape of Europe. They are Angela Merkel, 57, Chancellor of Germany and Christine Lagarde, 56, managing director if the International Monetary Fund. They are good friends who give each other little gifts and text each other often. Lagarde, who is sophisticated and fashionable wears Chanel and recently gave Merkel a little something from Hermes and an orange blossom scented candle from Fragonard. Merkel, who wears boxy jackets and was observed grocery shopping wearing the same outfit she wore to sign a major European financial agreement gave her pal a CD of a favorite Beethoven symphony.
The women hold different and opposing views of how to solve the European debt crisis. Merkel favors austerity and debt reduction. Lagarde is pro-growth and also wants Europe's richer nations to contribute more financial resources to solving the problem. The women also have very different backgrounds. Merkel was raised in communist East Germany. Lagarde went to a prominent girl school in Washington DC and interned on Capitol Hill. As a girl, Lagarde was a member of France's national team for synchronized swimming. Merkel had to spend an entire swimming class getting up the courage to jump from a diving board. Lagarde became a lawyer at a top American firm. Merkel was a physicist.
Both have risen fast. Merkel became the head of Germany's largest party just ten years after joining it. Lagarde won the IMF job just six years after becoming France's finance minister. About their relationship, possibly the most unusual relationship between women in the history of Europe, Lagarde said in an interview,"There are many circles and many forums where it's only the two of us who are women So there's a sense of recognition, complicity, solidarity." She, an extrovert, known for her ability to charm, also said about dealing with her more introverted analytic girlfriend, "You continually have to explain, rationalize, dissect the whys, the pros, the cons and plead your case. It's the lawyer and the physicist. I will continue to grit my teeth and keep up the work." She also said she chose the candle for Merkel because it is a symbol of "hope."Author Name: ThridAge StaffHide Pagination:
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