Italy – Labour reforms need to tackle youth unemployment

I recently came across an interesting article with the title Dangermen – Labour reform in Italy which laid out the many challenges the new Italian prime minister Mario Monti has to face. One of the most pressing problems is the unacceptable high unemployment rate among young people (15-24 years old) which is above 30 percent in Italy with Portugal, Spain and Greece performing evenly badly or worst (see link for graph). He is pushing for reforms to make the labour market more flexible and to encourage companies to take on new employees. This won’t be easy. He is up against all sorts of interests that benefit from the status quo and therefore seek to preserve it.

Ireland – Comment: Enda Kenny in Washington

English: Taoiseach Enda Kenny with US President Barack Obama in the Oval Office, in the White House on St. Patrick’s Day 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Enda Kenny met with Barack Obama at the White House during the St.Patrick‘s Celebrations. After performing friendly exchanges Obama confirmed his intent to visit Ireland in May this year. What an eventful month this is going to be since the English Queen Elizabeth II will also come to town. The former will receive an enthusiastic and warm welcoming from the local crowd, the latter less so. He will be loved, she will be respected.