Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,808443,00.html
Sometimes, it doesn't take long for the most perfect of plans to go awry. Mario Monti, professor of economics and a former European commissioner, was heavily supported by Berlin when Italy was searching for a successor to Silvio Berlusconi as prime minister. Monti was to introduce far-reaching austerity measures in the heavily indebted country -- measures seen as vital to prevent Italy from dragging the entire euro zone down with it.
Monti, initially, did what was expected of him. He immediately passed a savings package worth €30 billion ($38 billion). And Berlin figured that more was on the way.
DER SPIEGEL
Graphic: Debt in the industrialized world.
Now, though, the Italian prime minister seems to have lost his enthusiasm for austerity. He has begun pursuing a different direction -- one diametrically opposed to that which German Chancellor Angela Merkel would like to see. And on Wednesday, the two are set to meet in Berlin to talk about their differences.
The list is not insignificant. Monti would like to see the euro bailout fund expanded by hundreds of billions of euros in order to dramatically increase its reach and effectiveness. In addition, he wants the euro zone to collectivize debt in the form of euro bonds as a way of making it cheaper for heavily indebted countries in the common currency union to refinance their debt. Furthermore, the European Central Bank should, he believes, play a larger role in propping up struggling euro-zone countries and stabilizing the euro. And, he wants to begin moving away from austerity in favor of promoting economic growth.
DER SPIEGEL
Graphic: Per capita debt in selected countries.
Sometimes, it doesn't take long for the most perfect of plans to go awry. Mario Monti, professor of economics and a former European commissioner, was heavily supported by Berlin when Italy was searching for a successor to Silvio Berlusconi as prime minister. Monti was to introduce far-reaching austerity measures in the heavily indebted country -- measures seen as vital to prevent Italy from dragging the entire euro zone down with it.
Monti, initially, did what was expected of him. He immediately passed a savings package worth €30 billion ($38 billion). And Berlin figured that more was on the way.
DER SPIEGEL
Graphic: Debt in the industrialized world.
Now, though, the Italian prime minister seems to have lost his enthusiasm for austerity. He has begun pursuing a different direction -- one diametrically opposed to that which German Chancellor Angela Merkel would like to see. And on Wednesday, the two are set to meet in Berlin to talk about their differences.
The list is not insignificant. Monti would like to see the euro bailout fund expanded by hundreds of billions of euros in order to dramatically increase its reach and effectiveness. In addition, he wants the euro zone to collectivize debt in the form of euro bonds as a way of making it cheaper for heavily indebted countries in the common currency union to refinance their debt. Furthermore, the European Central Bank should, he believes, play a larger role in propping up struggling euro-zone countries and stabilizing the euro. And, he wants to begin moving away from austerity in favor of promoting economic growth.
DER SPIEGEL
Graphic: Per capita debt in selected countries.
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
Recommendations
0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):
75 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read