Bye, Bye Eurozone?

Will Italy Rebel Against the EU?

In the October Prospect, former Economist editor Bill Emmott observes that Italy may soon rebel against EU-imposed austerity:

[Beppe] Grillo, [a] comedian turned political activist, who sports an impressive mop of curly grey hair, is a showman whose insurgent Five Star Movement is scaring mainstream political parties by winning mayoral elections and running at 20 per cent in national opinion polls. … Grillo's most prominent and coherent policy idea is exit from the euro.

But it's not just comedians. Former prime minister, media magnate, and inveterate schemer Silvio Berlusconi

[W]hose right-wing party, People of Liberty, is meant to be supporting [the pro-EU government of prime minister Mario Monti], has only flirted with running against the euro, so far saying simply that talk of returning to the lira "should not be considered blasphemy." But his family's main newspaper, the aggressive and conservative il Giornale, in early August devoted its front page to an attack on [German chancellor Angela Merkel], describing her Germany as 'The Fourth Reich.'

Emmott concludes that Grillo and Berlusconi don't make natural bedfellows for cultural reasons, but that their parties between them can claim the support of between 45% and 55% of Italian voters.

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David Frum

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