Italy- NOT to big to fail.. too big to bail... Update: IMF in town

[DCon]

Italian tax officials going undercover. Tough job, cruising the beaches, in beach clothes!

Tax officers have resorted to going undercover in board shorts, T-shirts and sunglasses to root out tax evasion among “stabilimenti” – the operators who hire out umbrellas, changing cabins and sun loungers to beachgoers.

Members of the Guardia di Finanza normally wear military-style grey uniforms with elaborate braiding and epaulettes, but a team of officers donned beachwear so as to pass incognito while they carried out their spot checks.

http://www.independent.ie/business/e...s-3204025.html

[MPB]

Italian tax officials going undercover. Tough job, cruising the beaches, in beach clothes!



http://www.independent.ie/business/e...s-3204025.html

Meanwhile the political system is owned by the Mafia.

[Ephilant]

“Sul piano tecnico la moneta unica sarebbe in condizioni di sopravvivere. Non so se la Grecia riuscirebbe a sopravvivere, ma sembra che l’argomento non interessi nessuno al di fuori dei greci. Sono sempre stato contrarissimo all’idea del fuori i deboli e poi rimettiamo le carte sul tavolo quando i deboli sono usciti. Questo percorso trasforma l’Eurozona nel classico carciofo.
Un carciofo da cui, dopo la foglia greca si potrebbe strappare quella spagnola e poi quella italiana: Già, prima o poi si portano via tutte le altre foglie”, è quanto si legge in un’intervista rilasciata da Giuliano Amato al Messaggero.

Dixit Giuliano Amato, former Italian PM in Il Messaggero.

Roughly translated:

"On a technical level, the single currency could survive if Greece was to exit the euro. I don't know, if Greece could survive, but, apparently, that issue seems to be of interest to Greece only.
I was always utterly opposed to the idea favouring the removal of the weaker States before putting the issues back on the table.
This tactic turns the Eurozone into a classic artichoke. If Greece is forced to exit the euro, we could be next. Because the Eurozone is like an artichoke, sooner or later the leaves may be cut off."

[ang]

Italy is in a precarious position facing bond market shut out any day now (may though get prop up to delay) Italy really are not in a position to judge anyone else.

[Ephilant]

Italy is in a precarious position facing bond market shut out any day now (may though get prop up to delay) Italy really are not in a position to judge anyone else.

I don't think this guy is "judging" as in speaking ill of Greece, on the contrary. What he is saying, I think, is that the powers within the Eurozone really don't care about Greece (or Spain, Portugal, Ireland) and they should. He condems the idea of a 2-tier Eurozone (or EU for that matter).
He also makes it clear that this "we-don't-really-care" attitude could extend to include Italy very soon, which is of course his main worry. In such cases it always helps to ensure new friends are ready and waiting on the sidelines, just in case the old ones turn out not to be friends you thought they were....

[DCon]

Lagarde says Spain and Italy have taken enough "measures" to warrant help. Must be nice to be TBTF.

CHRISTINE Lagarde yesterday pledged to help the European Central Bank (ECB) in designing and monitoring its programme of bond buying, intended to help ease the pressure on indebted governments such as Italy and Spain.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) boss said those governments had taken enough action on state finances to merit more help from the rest of the EU.

http://www.equities.com/news/headlin...18&cat=finance

[DCon]

I wonder what the % would be in Ireland

ROME, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Corruption has been hampering economic growth in recession-hit Italy, local reports said on Monday.

Eradicating widespread corruption could boost gross domestic product (GDP) by 2 to 4 percent, and stimulate foreign investors to do business in Italy, Corriere della Sera newspaper said, citing official figures.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/wo..._131841143.htm

[ang]

Berlusconi is back -

Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi is back. He has warned that his country risks heading towards an "endlesss crisis" and that Germany leaving the euro wouldn't be a tragedy.

[DCon]

Venice wants out

Indipendenza Veneta, a pro-independence political movement, says it expects several thousand people to turn up for the rally in the centre of the lagoon city.

It has drawn inspiration from the examples of Scotland and Catalonia, saying more and more regions in Europe are seeking independence from central government control.

Activists dream of carving out a new country in north-eastern Italy which would comprise Venice, the surrounding region of Veneto and parts of the regions of Lombardy, Trentino and Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

It would roughly conform to the historic boundaries of the Venetian Republic, once a prosperous trading power, and would encompass about five million people.

The Venetian Republic lasted for more than 1,000 years, but lost its independence in 1797 when it was occupied by Napoleon’s troops.

Venice and the surrounding region was incorporated into Italy in 1866, five years after the unification of the rest of the country.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...rom-Italy.html

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

Brilliant. Wouldn't it be just the most delicious irony if the attempt at a super-state by the back door actually cause a rupturing of contrived states into smaller more autonomous regions based on people's right to self-determination.

I do love the historical pendulum.

[DCon]

A former Italian politician has mentioned the unmentionable

GERMAN banks created Europe's debt crisis and the cuts demanded of Italy are driving the economy deeper into recession, the economic chief of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's party said on Friday.

"My thesis is that the crisis is a crisis in the euro, produced by German banks," he said, arguing that the euro zone was paying for their excessive exposure to high yielding paper.

"I would like to see an investigation into the German banks," Brunetta said.

"It's this Calvinist analysis. If you're poor, it's your fault, if you're rich, it's because God loves you," he said.

http://www.independent.ie/business/e...a-3257828.html

[MPB]

About bloody time.

Will he get any support though? Anybody with half a brain knows that we are bailing out Germany, rather than them bailing out us.

As soon as people around Europe start to realise and understand this, the EU will fall apart.

I wonder how Germany backed by the US will fair next time round, or will it dawn on German and US citizens that their Central Bankers, are their and our problem?

[DCon]

Merkel apparently wants Italy to take the same deal Spain are getting, at the same time

[DCon]

nothing to see here

Bad loans at Italy’s banks rose 15.3% in September- Bank of Italy

http://www.forexlive.com/blog/2012/1...bank-of-italy/

[ang]

Monti going after budget passed -

Linda Yueh ‏@lindayueh
#Italy Prime Minister Mario Monti told President Giorgio Napolitano that he intends to resign: Napolitano’s office