Two weeks ago, the world looked anxiously at Italy. Italy’s debt seemed dangerously high, and its leader, Silvio Berlusconi, faced criticism from political leaders both inside and outside his country. Now the situation has come to the brink of crisis. Distress has given way to predictions of Italy defaulting and bringing the rest of the eurozo ne down with it. The situation has grown so dire that it has forced Berlusconi, who has dominated Itali...
photo from Wikimedia Commons These days, in Italy, the courts dominate the news. Six scientists (and one government official) were convicted of manslaughter on October 22 for failing to predict correctly the 2009 L’Aquila earthquakes. They may face up to six years in jail and pay damages of more than $10 million. Silvio Berlusconi, the world-famous and scandalous Italian prime minister who served from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2006 to 200...
...nt cancelled a meeting with him in Berlin–– it certainly reflects the “international consensus” on the Italian election. The winner of this election could very well turn out to be Pier Luigi Bersani, the experienced leader of Italy’s main center-left party; however, there is much uncertainty due to Italy’s complex electoral rule and the possibility of a hung Parliament. The biggest lesson to draw from this election, however, has to do with the el...
In the past week, two unrelated incidents of self-immolation have been reported in Italy. The first case was that of a 58-year-old businessman in Bologna who set himself alight while sitting in a parked car outside of a government tax office. Police found a number of documents in the car, including a suicide note directed at the government agency that had recently accused him of evading taxes. In another letter, the man defended his innocence, a...
...o eurozone finance minister Jean-Paul Juncker. But Greece isn’t even the biggest concern in Europe anymore. Many fear the viability of one of the eurozone’s largest economies. Spain is not the problem, as many had feared, but Italy. Both French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel publicly reproached Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi over the weekend saying that Italy’s public debt needs “to be reduced in a credibl...
...other ethnic groups continue to fester, and in the absence of legal channels for complaint and redress. Granting autonomy to the region would begin to address these challenges. South Tyrol, an autonomous province in northern Italy bordering southern Austria, is an example of successful autonomy following the implementation of an autonomy agreement between Italy and Austria in 1992. South Tyrol has undergone considerable development since that ti...
For the last three years, Europe has been on the edge. Time and time again, the collapse of the euro has seemed alarmingly close. However, European politicians have been able to muddle through, coming up with half- baked solutions to buy time. Meanwhile, the suffering endured by the people of Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal has been immense – on a scale comparable to the Great Depression. The youth has been the hardest hit; consequently, we ar...
...nal condemnation just weeks later for her ringing declaration that “[in Germany] multiculturalism has failed.” Germany’s leaders are not soloists in this chorus of jingoist rhetoric: the leaders of France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands have all expressed similar nativist sentiments. This represents a marked departure from the idyllic progressive toleration often touted by the Old World. Anti-immigrant and pro-nativist spee...
...hiding them abroad or in various accounts worthwhile. Among these Western economies that suffer the effects of large shadow economies are some headlining countries of the European Union: The article hyperlinked above mentions Italy, Greece, and Ireland as among some of the most salient examples of rampantly growing shadow economies. In a time when sovereign governments are struggling to make ends meet and to fund their domestic programs during fo...
Photo from Wikimedia Commons First 45 Minutes The many questions of the UEFA Euro 2012 in Ukraine are: Why did the Dutch exit early? Would Wayne Rooney lead England to glory? Why are former fascist countries (Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain who all are in the semi-finals) so darn good at soccer? And the most important story to follow: Who will win it all? International soccer has a history of uniting countries under one banner, whether it i...
Follow us at
Like us on
Recent Comments