| | |
ECONOMIST Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:33:54 GMT
CHARLEMAGNE files a dispatch from the latest EU summit:Their compact—now called the “treaty on stability, co-ordination and governance in the Economic and Monetary Union”, has as its main aim the imposition of balanced-budget rules on members. This may be a useful discipline in good times. But many worry that, at a time of widespread crisis, such pro-cyclical rules risk imposing too much austerity too widely, thus darkening the spectre of recession and making it even harder to balance budgets. This may explain why leaders suddenly want to be seen talking about their plan (declaration is here in PDF) for growth and jobs, particularly in tackling the problem of youth unemployment.Nevertheless, Angela Merkel, the German chancellor who had pushed hard for the treaty, hailed it as a great success. Many others, however, dismiss the compact with so much faint praise. “It is an important distraction”, says one diplomat. “It has gone from damaging to merely useless,” says a member of the.......
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
ECONOMIST Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:07:07 GMT
AT LEAST 11 people died and 26 are still missing after an Italian-operated cruise ship struck a rock on January 13th off the island of Giglio. Coming on the day that Standard & Poor’s downgraded Italy’s debt by two notches, the wreck of the 114,500-tonne Costa Concordia was seen by many Italians as an uncomfortable metaphor for their country’s financial plight. Worse was to come. Costa Cruises, a subsidiary of the American-based Carnival group, said the captain, Francesco Schettino, had gone off-course without permission (apparently as a gesture to a retired skipper from Giglio). And evidence accumulated that he had refused to accept the gravity of the accident, delayed the ship’s evacuation and abandoned his post before everyone was off. In a leaked recording from the investigation, he protests feebly as a local coast guard commander orders him (in vain) to return. Mr Schettino was put under house arrest, accused of manslaughter.
|
ECONOMIST Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:07:07 GMT
BEFORE the European Union summit on January 30th, Italy’s new prime minister, Mario Monti, will have visited the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the British prime minister, David Cameron, whom he saw on January 18th. Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, has been to see him in Rome. And the French, German and Italian leaders plan a pre-meeting just before the summit.It is a far cry from most of the second half of last year, when Europe’s leaders did as much as they could to avoid being caught in a photograph with Mr Monti’s scandal-tainted predecessor, Silvio Berlusconi. Italy, it seems fair to say, is back at the top table. And that could have far-reaching effects on the euro crisis. For, as he is making increasingly plain, Mr Monti’s ideas on how to resolve it are significantly at odds with those of the Germans who have until now been doing most of the ordering—and choosing pretty thin gruel.“Adherence to fiscal.......
| | |
| Full List of Italy articles |
|
|
Ben Gazzara obituary
UN faults Italy over WWII claims
Concordia captain's stunt blamed for cruise wreck
Riches left in Costa Concordia a lure for treasure-seekers
Italian shipwreck: The treasure now under the sea
Portugal’s problems: The next special case?
Italian cruise ship leaks thin film of oil
Oil spreading from Italy shipwreck
Italy ship purser tells of rescue
Big freeze extends across Europe
Cruise Ship Sinking: Search for Concordia Bodies Officially Over
Italian authorities end search for cruise ship bodies
Italy Ending Search For Those Missing In Shipwreck
Cruise Official Pressed Over Ship Disaster
Divers halt search on Italian cruise ship
Italy ends search for missing in shipwreck
Italy: Neo-Fascists Claim Ezra Pound, His Family Protests
Experts say cruise ship salvage should stop
Eurozone crisis live: EU summit optimism tested by record unemployment
Search of cruise ship abandoned
Cruise Crash Cuts Carnival Profit
Delay in removing stricken Italian ship
Costa Offers $14,460 to Cruise Survivors
The euro: more summits, more problems
Wreck removal 'to take 10 months'
Obituary: Oscar Luigi Scalfaro Dies at 93; Led Italy in ’90s
Stormy Seas Delay Fuel Recovery From Cruise Ship
Former Italian President Scalfaro dies at 93
Italian cruise ship divers find 17th victim
