José Luis Alzola is Senior European Analyst at The Observatory Group, an advisory firm on economic and political trends, based in New York and Washington. His responsibilities include the analysis, understanding and forecasting the euro area and the monetary policy of the European Central Bank, and of other macroeconomic policies. Until August 2008, Mr. Alzola was a managing director within Citigroup's economic and market analysis department in London. Mr Alzola joined Salomon Brothers (later Citigroup) in January 1993 as a southern Europe economist. Prior to joining Citigroup, Mr Alzola spent six years with the Bank of Spain in Madrid, initially as an economist in the international department, and later as deputy head of foreign operations. Previous to his employment with the Bank of Spain, Mr Alzola spent three years as an economist at the Banco de Bilbao in Barcelona and Bilbao. Mr Alzola graduated from the Universidad de Deusto-Bilbao and obtained an MA in Economics from the University of Chicago. He also has a degree in investment management from the London Business School.