Czerulf: Italy – Berlusconi, Imu and what comes next

Silvio Berlusconi (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Flipping through the newspapers one could get the impression that things are going rather well in Italy. Relatively little space is attributed to the issues that mark the current crisis – a depressed economy, an unemployment rate that is rising month on month (specially among young people) and a political system that fails to address all these issues. One would expect that this mix of upsetting facts should dominate the headlines. Instead what keeps the nation moving like nothing else is the possible suspension (or abolition?) of IMU (Imposta Municipale Propria – a property tax) on family homes. Why is that?

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via Corriere: Il governo Letta: tutti i ministri

Eccola, la squadra di Letta.

Czerulf: Italy – Let’s face reality!

English: Enrico Letta at the Trento 2009 Economics Festival. Italiano: Enrico Letta a Trento per il Festival dell’Economia 2009. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The new government to be led by Enrico Letta is not in place yet. It hasn’t had the chance to do anything wrong, but criticism and more often polemics are all over the place. Most comments concentrate on the past rather than the present situation. And that’s the whole problem. There is no point in repeating over and over again that party A, B, C etc. promised one thing before the elections and now does the complete opposite. Why? Because the general elections of 24./25.02.2013 produced a result that is dramatically different from what had been envisaged at the time.

Czerulf: Italy – Revealing the Wheel

Spinning the wheel – and the winner is?

President Napolitano is going to reveal tomorrow who will be the next Prime Minister of Italy and the terms and conditions of this assignment. Will it be Giuliano Amato, Enrico Letta, Matteo Renzi or Mister X?