Leaders shaping global economic policy

From cabinet officials to central bankers, these leaders are making critical policy decisions that could shape the future path of the global economy.

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Ben S. Bernanke (U.S. Federal Reserve)

Five years into his chairmanship of the U.S. central bank, he is a seasoned crisis manager and experienced in the delicate politics and diplomacy of economic policy. Under his leadership, the Fed is trying to guide U.S. monetary policy to help avert a dip back into recession and -- as overseer of U.S. banks and, more broadly, the financial system -- prevent Europe's debt crisis from leading to a new economic crisis in the United States.

Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

Timothy F. Geithner (U.S. Treasury Department)

The U.S. Treasury secretary is a career government official and has deep experience with fiscal crises like the one affecting Europe. As a top Treasury international-affairs aide in the 1990s, he led the U.S. response to crises in East Asia, Russia and elsewhere. As president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York before returning to Treasury Department, he was a key leader of the U.S. response to the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009.

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

Christine Lagarde (IMF)

The former French finance minister took the helm of the International Monetary Fund in July, replacing Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Lagarde is steeped in the Europe crisis, having played a key role in responding to it in its earliest days. She also has the benefit of being respected by central bankers, finance ministers and heads of state in Europe, giving her influence beyond that suggested by her title alone.

Jose Luis Magana / AP

Mario Draghi (European Central Bank)

The former head of Italy's central bank succeeded Jean-Claude Trichet as ECB president. Draghi had already played a key role in the crisis as head of the Financial Stability Board, which aims to coordinate global efforts to regulate the financial system. Now, he aims to continue the aggressive response to the crisis in his new job at the ECB.

Michael Sohn / AP

Wolfgang Schauble (German Finance Ministry)

Europe's largest economy is at the center of the storm, with stable finances and an economy that is doing relatively well, though it recently has showed signs of slowing. Bailouts of European countries such as Greece and Portugal are ultimately a cost borne to a large degree by German citizens -- something that is immensely unpopular in Germany but that may be the price of averting a continent-wide economic catastrophe.

Lionel Cironneau / AP

Masaaki Shirakawa (Bank of Japan)

The head of Japan's central bank has been a voice of consistency in economic policy from the world's third-largest economy. Shirakawa has been in office since 2008, unusual longevity in a nation that has seen six prime ministers and nine finance ministers in five years. He has been a leading figure in helping arrange currency interventions to keep the value of the yen from rising in a rapid, destabilizing way.

Toshifumi Kitamura / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Zhou Xiaochuan (People's Bank of China)

The world's second-largest economy has been an important stabilizing force in the recent economic turmoil. Because of the opaqueness of the Chinese political system, it is hard to know what decisions are made by Zhou or by political leaders. But Zhou and the central bank are on the front lines of combating Chinese inflation through higher interest rates while trying to maintain growth.

Wang zhou bj / IMAGINECHINA

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Leaders shaping global economic policy

From cabinet officials to central bankers, these leaders are making critical policy decisions that could shape the future path of the global economy.

Featured Photo Galleries