Mussolini (the sexier)!
Posted on 04/15/2008 5:00:16 PM PDT by Kaslin
Europe: The return of conservative Silvio Berlusconi to power in Italy, along with rightward tilts in Germany and France, signals a continental shift to smaller government and lower taxes. No coincidence, it's also pro-U.S.
It's been a long time coming. Two previous Berlusconi governments struggled without such an advantage. So this amounts to a green light for badly needed free-market reform.
His victory also follows moves to the right in Germany and France and could signal a trend toward conservative governments elsewhere in Europe. Italy has always been a harbinger of such trends. For both Europe and the U.S., that's good news.
It means Italian voters realize that smaller government, lower taxes, lawful immigration — and optimism, which Italy's ebullient leader exemplifies — will make for a more dynamic economy.
Odds for success in Italy's case are high. For one thing, the left-leaning parties formed a unified opposition called the Democratic Party. Berlusconi can more strongly present his ideas against theirs in the parliament than if parties were small and fragmented.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
Sorry for your relatives, but that is no evidence of widespread anti-americanism in Italy.
The point is: yes, we have folks who dont love America, and yes, anti-Americanism is pretty cool for the leftist “intellighenzia” but all in all Italy is not exactly the most anti-american country in Europe: we watch tons of american movies, we listens to american music, we put english words in our speech to make it “cooler”, and our leftist party is called Democratic Party... LOL
Sorry if you feel hated but hey, you live in America, so don’t complain! ;-)
I guess it’s anecdotal evidence, which is always problematic. I’ll happily accept your correction on that score.
I’m hearing Carosone’s “Tu vuo’ fa’ l’Americano” in my head as I write this. :)
He solved the “problems” of your unbelievable election system and helps italy to become more stable and could start to solve the real problems?
Your complete political system is a joke and the italian people pay the price for this but perhaps they also cause this problems i don´t know. What has Berlusconi really done to solve these problems.
He had 15 years time (as all the others before) to solve all your problems or even start to do so but in the end nothing happened.
For italy it is not a question of parties of political directions. Even germany with the huge burden of the reunification had better growth numbers and not to talk about your financial situation. If Berlusconi is the best thing someone can get in italy i do not have much hope for your country.
At least he did not kill me with taxes
i can also lower taxes at the price of huge deficits.
so huge that the EU sanctioned Germany but NOT Italy for not meeting deficit criteria, and now the decifit is pretty much under control
He solved the “problems” of your unbelievable election system and helps italy to become more stable and could start to solve the real problems?
YEP: now we have a strong government, no communists in parliament, and 4 political groups in either houses of parliament (from more that 20 before!)
If Berlusconi is the best thing someone can get in italy i do not have much hope for your country.
I do not have much hope either, but that has nothing to do with Berlusconi. Simply put, the Euro currency is "tailor-made" for Germany, and the other EuroZone countries must keep up with german productivity level or perish. Unfortunately, our industrial base specializes in stuff not as much valued as german one: food, clothes, etc. The only thing Berlusconi can do is to liberalize the job market (which he has done) and the economy (which he hasnt done) but it is up to the Italian entrepeneurs to change their specialization in order to keep up with germany.
Anyway, it is funny that you blame Berlusconi for his alleged will to devalue the Euro while your government it is doing just that with the dollar.
Mussolini (the sexier)!
Look at the deficit numbers of the Berlusconi years
http://stats.oecd.org/ At least germany has to pay for the reunification. OK northern italy has also to pay for for the mafia in south italy.
and much more important you additionally have a debt of nearly 120% of GDP. That´s double the size of germany even after reunification.
“YEP: now we have a strong government, no communists in parliament, and 4 political groups in either houses of parliament (from more that 20 before!)”
So you do not have a problem with your system and evrything is fine? I know italians who have a complete different view. OK they do not live in italy anymore.
imply put, the Euro currency is “tailor-made” for Germany
So you would prefer to pay the huge huge rates for your 120% GDP debt if you would leave the euro. And that´s just one thing to think about. Do you really want the Lira back? You can thank god that you are a member of the euro zone in my opinion.
“must keep up with german productivity level or perish”
That´s capitalism. You tried it for decades with the devaluation of your currency but the problems just became bigger and bigger... When do the italian politicians and people learn. You can not solve longterm problems with shor term answers. Your currency is not the solution for competitive problems of italian companies because the problems remain while the advantage ( if there really is a advantage) will be gone very soon.
“Anyway, it is funny that you blame Berlusconi for his alleged will to devalue the Euro while your government it is doing just that with the dollar.”
I do not understand that. I believe a lot of people in europe want to have the power to have influence on the dollar but we are not so powerful. Europe is not even a real player in this game. The dollar problems ( if someone thinks that it is a problem) are made in USA and have to be solved there.
We can have a long discussion whether the ECB needs different goals than just to fight inflation and if the FED does a better job looking at the situation we see at the moment.
stefan10 I pretty much agree with your view on the problems of Italy, so I won’t refute you in any way.
The point of discussion here is this: you blame Berlusconi for these problems, and that’s really unfair.
Berlusconi tried to reform Italy with a comprehensive constitutional reform (the first time in 60 years!), but the Italians people silly rejected it via a referendum. So what’s Berlusconi got to do? Abolish referendum and democracy?
As for budget numbers, the year 2005 was awful but numbers came back to normalcy pretty soon.
As for the €, I thank God to be in the Eurozone, I was just pointing out that responsibility for bleak economic performance lies with Italian entrepreneurs and not Berlusconi.
In the end, I think yor acquentainces in Italy are “blame-the -government-first” kinda guys or simply leftist Berlusconi-haters.
I really like italy as a country and know a lot of very nice italians what i absolutly not understand is why things do not change and when i feel frustradet how should the italian people feel.
the thread is titled: Berlusconi To Move Italy Forward
I just think he had time enough and in my oppinion the time was wasted but i have no idea if there was a different chance or why there is no better chance in italy but perhabs he get things done during his third period.
Italy and the italian people would really deserve it.
perhabs you should vote for your football players or coaches. They often show a lot of efficiency and a very well strategic organisation.
Now that's an idea! :-)
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