THAT'S PERFECT!
[Wife loved it too...]
Posted on 12/02/2016 3:01:26 AM PST by expat_panama
Italy may be the next stop on the world's journey to more economic nationalism. First we had Brexit — Britain's decision to leave the European Union. Then we had the election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president, pledging to put "America first" in his policies. Now Italy may be treading down the same path.
What's at issue is a constitutional referendum, scheduled for Dec. 4, that would make it easier for the parliament to pass measures intended to improve a lackluster economy. But the latest polls suggest the referendum will fail, placing Italy in a precarious economic and political position.
Almost everyone agrees that Italy's economic performance needs help. According to figures from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), growth of the economy has been limping along at less than 1% annually, while unemployment is about 11.5%. Government debt is 132% of GDP.
In an ideal world, faster economic growth would enable Italy to pay down its debt and reduce unemployment. But Italy's political system is "gridlocked," says Jacob Funk Kirkegaard of the Peterson Institute, a U.S. think tank.
It's hard to loosen the economy's shackles. The legislature has upper and lower houses that must pass identical bills...
...A widely agreed vulnerability is Italy's banking system, which is heavily invested in weak loans and Italian government debt. According to the OECD, about 18% of banks' business loans are "non-performing," meaning interest or principle aren't being paid on time.
"If you have a crisis in the Italian banking sector," said economist Megan Greene of Manulife Asset Management on CNBC, the business-news cable channel, "that could spread across Europe."...
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
[snip] But the latest polls suggest the referendum will fail, [snip]
We shall see if this is the same broken record. Polls created to suppress the voting opposition.
Italian politics are always confusing to outsiders, but it seems to me that we American conservatives would want this referendum to fail if it does, in fact, lead to further weakness in the European Union superstate.
Vote is on Sunday.
YES= Gov’t doing good job. We want them to have more power.
NO = Current Gov’t sucks. We want change.
This is my understanding of the whole thing, anyway.
Italy has a very active Communist Party as part of the mix which helps make it a bit more incomprehensible to us - at least we have a respite in our journey in their direction.
Italy’s exit of the EU should be called “Italeave”
Why would any Conservative support a superstate that squelches national identity, culture and individualism?
That's exactly what the EU does to member states.
The Obama admin has had people screwing with other foreign elections. Wonder if they have anyone on the ground in Italy for this one...
Later
We want a “no” vote.
What took them so long? France will come shortly after Italy...
Thanks for the link! I’ve been reading a lot of articles, Italian, domestic on the referendum. And I can’t find one that isn’t a load of biased, fear-mongering swill.
Or use Italian and make it Ciaotalia!
THAT'S PERFECT!
[Wife loved it too...]
Or use Italian and make it Ciaotalia!
________________
Or arrivedercitaly...
Anti-globalism on the march...nice!
How about "PartItalia"?
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