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SBD
Admiral
Joined: 19 Aug 2004
Posts: 1022
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 Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 7:49 am Post subject: The euro has screwed everybody - Berlusconi |
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| Quote: | The euro has screwed everybody - Berlusconi
Staff and agencies
Friday July 29, 2005
Italy's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, yesterday said the euro had "screwed everybody" in comments that hinted at his willingness to make political capital out of the currency in the 2006 election campaign.
Speaking to his Forza Italia party, he blamed the country's tricky relationship with the euro on Romano Prodi, the former European Commission president and Italian prime minister who has emerged as his main challenger.
He claimed Italy's economic difficulties, which include inflation, recession and forecasts of zero economic growth, stemmed from Mr Prodi's having put Italy into the monetary union at too high a rate when he was in office, between 1996 and 1998.
Article continues
"Prodi's euro has screwed everybody," he told the party. "Italians are facing real difficulties."
One of Mr Berlusconi's coalition parties, the Eurosceptic Northern League, called for the reintroduction of the lira shortly after French and Dutch voters rejected the European constitution. No other party has joined its campaign, though, and Mr Berlusconi said in June he did not believe Italy should leave the euro.
Nevertheless, officials in Brussels fear he will try to play on dissatisfaction with the currency as he campaigns for re-election in 2006. When the notes and coins were introduced, in 2002, some shops in Italy sharply raised prices.
A report from the HSBC bank suggested the Italian economy could benefit from switching to a weaker currency - in effect, from a devaluation. Mr Berlusconi has frequently criticised the European Central Bank, which is independent of all national governments, for not lowering its interest rates.
Mr Prodi did not reply to the remarks, but he has in the past blamed Mr Berlusconi's economic policies for leaving Italy trailing its eurozone partners in terms of growth and competitiveness.
Analysts have warned that attacks on the euro could weaken it further, while the decision to put the European constitution on hold has raised fears of instability within the EU and its 12-member eurozone.
Thomas Meyer, an economist at Deutsche Bank, told the Financial Times that Mr Berlusconi was playing a dangerous game: "Comments like these from a prime minister could well reinforce concerns about the long-term stability of European monetary union." |
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GenrXr
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 05 Aug 2004
Posts: 1720
Location: Houston
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| Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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Personally, I love the euro and watching these countries in all their wisdom try to duplicate our country without regard to John Adams 'defence of the constitutions', Jay, Madison, and Hamiltons 'the federalist papers' and the bible both new testament and old among many of our founding books. Social engineering in defiance of nature always ends in distaster. Just adds further proof that our founding was not an abberation and that socialism ends in chaos and death for all.
These countries will never ratify a constitution and if they somehow do succeed in ratification will be fighting each other in a bloody civil war within 10 years.
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"An activist is the person who cleans up the water, not the one claiming its dirty."
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing." Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Founder of Conservative Philosophy |
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