Posted on 08/01/2011 1:33:55 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Italy is the victim of an entirely inappropriate monetary policy.
The country needs ultra-loose money to offset €48bn of fiscal tightening and stave off a bond crisis. Instead it gets this, (from the Banca d’Italia):
Italy’s real M1 deposits have been contracting at a 7pc rate over recent months, and M3 is not far behind. This is catastrophic.
The ECB could prevent such a downward spiral. It chooses not to do so, and is therefore pushing Italy ever closer to the brink. (Yields have fallen slightly today on the relief rally from the US debt deal, but 10-years are still . . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.telegraph.co.uk ...
Italy is part of the EU....right? Get the hell out of the EU. Everyone knew it wouldn’t work...........except for the money grabbers.
It’s all going down, global dominoes.
The only question is how far we drive along this mountain ledge road, and how fast, before we go over.
Time to fuel up the escape pod. Check the parachutes.
You’d never know Italy was “close to the brink” by the way they act here. I live in Italy and everyone’s already gone on vacation for the month of August. They don’t seem to be too concerned. Either they’re whistling past the graveyard, or they feel there’s no point in getting worked up about it. I guess they live with this sort of thing every day, every year.
Hey, in just a couple of months they switched from part of the fascist axis, ally of Nazi Germany, to the “Armistace,” and open welcome of the Allies.
They’ve seen some history, big time.
Why ruin your vacation over the banksters and pols trying to blow up (or save) the global economy?
Guess I’m confused. Italy has the 3rd largest public debt and Pritchard is saying they need ultra-loose money? Sounds like they need to do some belt-tightening like us, to me. Am I misunderstanding what he is saying, or is Pritchard a Keynesian?
I get the sense here that Italians feel that life is that occasional interruption between vacations, eating (well, granted), and partying. I don’t think they care too much about anything else. Thus, they’re stuck with never-ending corrupt politicians, graft, and Mafia. I read somewhere that the Mafia activity here constitutes an estimated 15% of their GDP. Yikes! If they’d fix the politics and Mafia problem, I’d be willing to bet they’d outstrip Germany economically. It’s a shame, really. So much potential...
Africa has potential, too. Look what they've done with it.
AEP does not favor a crash. IMHO he's telling the socialists (especially the Germans) that if they want socialist union, they better start acting like it. They need to start spreading the wealth around or these PIIGS will crash them all quick.
AEP prefers the socialists to crash slowly so as not to crash the world quickly.
yitbos
Thanks for the insight. I wasn’t sure where he was coming from. James Rickards has started saying this will end up as Germany’s fourth reich, albeit an economic one, in that if they keep bailing all the other countries out, Germany is going to be in a position of influence to tell them when to jump and how high. I find that disturbingly ironic.
I have never made it to Italy, but it appears to be a beautiful country. Really, though, the lack of concern has always been the problem, hasn't it.
Same stuff the 12 Steps teaches me: Acceptance, which truly translates to lack-of-resistance-to-reality; Concern for others, which truly translates to brotherly love; and Perserverance, which truly translates to durability in the face of adversity.
All roads lead to Rome. You can get the same wisdom from a church, from military training, or -- as I have -- from Recovery.
For that inner core of strength developed, I am truly grateful.
Probably the latter. Why work yourself up over something you are utterly powerless over? Your only power is the power to make choices when something occurs, and for that, asking direction from the God of your understanding will make even those choices, effortless.
Have you ever seen Catch 22? There's a great scene in there with an old Italian man talking to Yossarian about how Italy has indeed already conquered the world. It's funny and thought provoking at the same time.
“Probably the latter. Why work yourself up over something you are utterly powerless over? Your only power is the power to make choices when something occurs, and for that, asking direction from the God of your understanding will make even those choices, effortless.”
Laz, that is the most eloquent post I have ever seen from you. Thank you.
It’s not my wisdom. Smarter people than me came up with it.
Mark
this is not about the EU but about the Eurozone — there is a difference. There are many countries in the EU (like the UK) who are not part of the Eurozone.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.