The Charisma of Central Banking: From Sacrifice to Rituals

Abstract

The article adopts the approach of the cultural study of law as developed mostly (but not exclusively) by Paul Kahn in order to explain the potential for charisma of contemporary central banks. The analysis focuses on the European Central Bank (ECB) and on Draghi's famous statement: 'we will do whatever it takes to save the Euro'. The study of the ECB's intervention shows the constitutional role of central banking, but it also sheds interesting light on the cultural study of law. While Kahn argues that the logic of sacrifice is at the core of the formation of constitutional orders because it bridges the sacred with the ordinary, the secret of central banking's success seems to revolve around the deployment of the logic of rituals.