Daniele Siena, Poised Between Academia and Institutions

There may be months of research behind a single sentence uttered by the governor of a central bank at a monetary policy meeting. Daniele Siena knows it. A PhD graduate in Economics at the Bocconi University, he's now a research economist in the International Macroeconomics Division of the Bank of France. The academic research is a perfect complement to his work in Rue Croix des Petits Champs. "Banque de France aims to increase the interaction with the academia to present the results at the universities and to show that the bank is actively working on these issues. I know my research work may have an impact on decision makers. It's inspiring and it carries a tremendous sense of responsibility".

One half of Siena's work is dedicated to the study of international spillovers of monetary and fiscal policies, and to prepare dossiers and scenarios for international meetings, and simulations on open economy models. The other half is dedicated to teaching and research at Science Po in Paris and Università Cattolica in Milan. The bank and the academia both benefit from the relationship: the former knows in advance the crucial issues in the economy; the latter validates the ideas. "There couldn't be a more fascinating and complicated moment for an economist", Siena says. "All our beliefs were shaken by great shocks. It's frightening, yet exciting. The joint action of bank and academy is priceless for interpreting reality and act, but the decision-making process must be faster than the research".