Italy's finance minister:"Italy risks bankruptcy"

[week]

Tremonti: "We risk ending up like Argentina"

It is alert for Italian economy. The Minister of Economy Giulio Tremonti says he's concerned for the financial market and for the bonds. The Italian economic policy should be dictated by "caution" because "our country has the world third largest debt and this will compete with the growing emissions made by other countries in support of banks. In other words, as made more explicit by Minister Sacconi there is a risk of bankruptcy for the country, "not probable, but not impossible."

In explaining that there are no disagreements with the Minister of Economy the minister of Welfare Sacconi adds that he is also "concerned about the risk of default of the country. And there is - he continued - something worse than the recession that is the bankruptcy of the state, an unlikely but possible event". Sacconi, during his speech,stressed that "we can not afford to go nowhere near a deserted public auction of government bonds. There would be a shortage of cash to pay pensions and salaries and we would end up like Argentina."

[MoneyTrev]

I haven't seen this.

Great find.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Forza Italia, the party of Prime Minister Berlusconi seems divided regarding just how dire is the economy. Some say state bankruptcy is possible.

Epoch Times - Italy on Verge of Financial Bankruptcy (I am not familiar with this newspaper(?), and do not vouch for it, but provide the link as the first thing that Google served up this morning.)

Meanwhile in Spain, which underwent a similar real estate bubble as in the US and which has tumbled just as fast, unemployment has climbed to 13% and is expected to be at 20% by month's end (!), according to an NPR report I heard two days ago. Tens of thousands of Spaniards turned out in the olive groves in hopes of finding even manual labor when this year's harvest was ready. Small businesses are left and right, banks have already been given a --relative to the USA numbers-- small bailout, and the national government is considering extending unemployment benefits to failed small business owners.