Italy
Papal Conclave: would a result today mean Angelo Scola is Pope?
White smoke from the Vatican this afternoon may signal that the new Pope is Cardinal Angelo Scola. But the longer the papal conclave goes on, the more likely it becomes… Continue reading
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Why I love Beppe Grillo
‘Crazy Italians!’ you might think. Offered the choice between Bunga Bunga Berlusconi, an ex-Communist and a Brussels stooge, one in four of them went and voted for a stand up… Continue reading
66 Comments
Italian elections: ‘The worst possible outcome’
Forget Moody’s. If you want to see market panic, just look at Italy. As Isabel reported this morning, the unexpectedly strong performance of Beppe Grillo’s anti-establishment party, the Five Star… Continue reading
74 Comments
Weary Italian voters can teach UK politicians lessons
Italian voters are clearly cheesed off: with the Establishment, and with the country’s austerity programme. The explosion onto the scene of Beppe Grillo – which Freddy examined in his post… Continue reading
33 Comments
Italian elections: anti-politics on amphetamines
Rome Italians go to the polls today, and Beppe Grillo still seems to be the name on everybody’s lips. Grillo is expected to get up to 22 per cent of… Continue reading
23 Comments
Mario Monti resigns
Following the passing of his budget, Mario Monti has quit as Italian Prime Minister. At the moment, it remains unclear whether he’ll continue to lead the government until elections next… Continue reading
17 Comments
I need your help
I am in southern Italy and there has been thunder and lightning pretty much continuously since Tuesday. I am quite scared of lightning. I need to buy some comestibles; especially… Continue reading
75 Comments
Raphael’s paintbrush
One of the puns that circulated the cultured elite of Italy during the Renaissance compared the potency of an artist’s paintbrush, his pennello, with his penis, il pene. Raphael, who… Continue reading
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Europe’s illusory deal
After Merkel’s decision to allow Eurozone funds to be used to bail out Spanish and Italian banks, the press tomorrow may declare – yet again – that some kind of… Continue reading
15 Comments
Of technocrats and democrats
A former European leader was a guest at a private dinner in London recently. It was a polite and reverential occasion, but conversation grew lighter as Sauternes gave way to… Continue reading
12 Comments
Bondholders are sheep — and they’re flocking out of the euro pen
Sweden’s Anders Borg (Fraser’s favourite finance minister) is wrong, says Citigroup. Bondholders and deposit holders are not like wolves, as Borg has made them out to be. They’re more like… Continue reading
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May Day, May Day
There was a sense of urgency, even emergency, in many countries on May 1 this year. The goings-on in the UK were muted in comparison: France Presidential incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy… Continue reading
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Making a call on Qatada
The Prime Minister, we are told, has been trying to reach the King of Jordan to see if some kind of arrangement can be made so that Abu Qatada can… Continue reading
20 Comments
How democracy fared in 2011
Even before we were a month in, 2011 was an historic year. Principally because in a region of the world where governments shift through military coup or foreign intervention, dictators… Continue reading
15 CommentsThe latest act in Europe’s comic opera
If it was not all so serious, the efforts to save the single currency would be worthy of a comic opera: the Germans could compose the score, the Italians could… Continue reading
32 CommentsEurope’s debt overspill
That Italy is now paying around 7.8 per cent for two-year borrowing, compared to the 4.5 per cent it was paying just last month, is a reminder that the imposition… Continue reading
11 CommentsFarage scolds Europe’s wrecking crew
In his cover story for last week’s Spectator, Fraser described how the Frankfurt Group – which he dubbed ‘a new EU hit squad’ – has begun imposing it’s will on… Continue reading
87 CommentsIn defence of technocrats
Is Mario Monti’s administration in Italy democratic? Is Greece’s new government? To some, especially in the blogosphere, it is the exact opposite: a technocratic and undemocratic government foisted upon Italy… Continue reading
42 CommentsCan Italy rebound?
I’m in Italy watching the bonfire of Silvio Berlusconi’s vanities first hand. From the ashes, most Italians hope a stronger nation will emerge. And for this reason, faith in former… Continue reading
34 CommentsBerlusconi: latest victim of Europe’s reverse Arab Spring
Berlusconi has finally resigned – and so continues what seems to be the Arab Spring in reverse (a Gnirps Bara). In the Arab world, people rose up against undemocratic juntas… Continue reading
29 Comments