Italexit | Bruegel

Blog Post

Mini-BOT in the government programme of the Five Star Movement and the League

The economic evaluation of mini-BOT very much depends on its specific characteristics. Overall it appears to be a blend of an inferior security and inferior money. More important than its specific characteristics is the message that the implementation of the mini-BOT would send about Ital-exit: inevitably, given what the League and its representatives have said and written, the mini-BOT would be seen as a first step in the exit of Italy from the euro, rekindling denomination risk attached to Italian securities.

By: Francesco Papadia, Alexander Roth and Bruegel Topic: Banking and capital markets Date: June 5, 2018

Opinion

Mattarella’s line in the sand

The vital task confronting Europe is to reconcile citizens’ right to make radical choices with the need to ensure that decisions leading to constitutional change are subject to sufficient public deliberation. The EU and the euro must not be constitutional cages; but nor should they be subject to ill-considered decisions.

By: Jean Pisani-Ferry and Bruegel Topic: Macroeconomic policy Date: June 1, 2018

Blog Post

Italian populism calls for hard choices

The economic agenda of Italian populists is likely to exacerbate rather than alleviate Italy’s longstanding problems. But the piecemeal, small-step approach followed by European and national ruling elites, while perhaps tolerable for countries under normal economic conditions, is insufficient for an Italy stuck in a low-growth-high-debt equilibrium. If defenders of the European project want to regain popularity, they will need to present a clear functioning alternative to setting the house on fire.

By: Alessio Terzi Topic: Macroeconomic policy Date: May 31, 2018

Opinion

How worried should we be about an Italian debt crisis?

Political backlash to slow growth and immigration has produced the least cooperative government imaginable in Italy, a coalition between the left-populist Five Star Movement (M5S) and the right-populist Lega. And borrowing costs have started to rise in reaction. Does this mean that a crisis is imminent? If so, how bad would it be?

By: Silvia Merler, Olivier Blanchard, Jeromin Zettelmeyer and Bruegel Topic: Banking and capital markets Date: May 28, 2018