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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBeppe Grillo says Italy may soon have to pull out of euro
Beppe Grillo, the former comedian who holds the balance of power in Italy, has suggested the country may have to abandon the euro and return to the lire.
In an interview with a German magazine published on Saturday, Mr Grillo said that “if conditions do not change” Italy “will want” to leave the euro and return to its former national currency.
The 64-year-old comic-turned-political activist also said Italy needs to renegotiate its €2 trillion debt.
At 127 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), it is the highest in the euro zone after Greece.
“Right now we are being crushed, not by the euro, but by our debt. When the interest payments reach €100 billion a year, we’re dead. There’s no alternative,” he told Focus, a weekly news magazine.
He said Italy was in such dire economic straits that “in six months, we will no longer be able to pay pensions and the wages of public employees.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9904270/Beppe-Grillo-says-Italy-may-soon-have-to-pull-out-of-euro.html
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Response to FarCenter (Original post)
jameshaspy10 Message auto-removed
uppityperson
(115,677 posts)
Warpy
(111,169 posts)The team is really on top of things here.
As for Italy, they are wise to withdraw. Perhaps once they do that, they'll have an easier time of getting their house in order without foreign interference telling them the way to prosperity is starving the workers.
We need to remember, also, that they ran into serious trouble mostly because they trusted US banks and hedge funds backed up by crooked ratings agencies.
They, like every other country in trouble including the US, need to nationalize the banks, jail the frauds, tax the rich, and put some teeth in the tax code. I just hope they're looking to Iceland for inspiration on how to survive this thing.
brooklynite
(94,373 posts)...doesn't really matter what he thinks about the Euro Zone.
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)Either he can force a left-right coalition which will be ineffective and create even more advantageous conditions for his party, or no coalition will be formed and the government will fall in the near future with new elections.
Italy has had 50+ governments since WW II, so this is not so unusual in Italian politics.
brooklynite
(94,373 posts)...but there hasn't been an outright win in the history of post-war Italy. 5 Star got 25% in the last election. Expecting a doubling of his vote return is delusional.
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)If he could raise his plurality significantly, say 35% or better, then he might peel off some parties or individuals that are in the two center-right and center-left coalitions and form a new coalition from a stronger position - anti-establishment, anti-Euro, anti-IMF...
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)crisis four years ago, we keep on hearing stories that Italy or Greece or some other country is going to pull out of the Euro.
To which I have ask, really? How long will it take them to print enough new currency and mint the coins needed to completely replace the Euros now in circulation? How will they establish the exchange rate between their new currency and the Euro? How will they deal with balance of payments problems when they import or export anything to another country? How will other countries be able to feel confident that this new currency will have a stable value?
And I bet someone who actually knows something about economics can think of many more issues and questions that would arise if a country tries to leave the euro.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)Hundreds of thousands marched in Portugal today.
Spain is ongoing, with a youth unemployment rate at an incredible 50% plus.
I wonder when leftist revolutionaries are going to pop up in Greece.
