Berlesconi will resign

[Political Junky]

Just saw it announced. He didn't get the votes.

 

[Vaard]

Italy's Berlusconi Agrees To Resign After Passing Austerity Bill - Forbes

 

[JakeStarkey]

I am glad he finally failed, but I doubt Italy's political world will clean up or their banking system is going to make it through the financial whirlpools ahead without serious damage, which will hurt the USA. I am and will continue buying, which I have been doing steadily since 2007.

 

[waltky]

Granny says she'd vote fer him if she was Italian `cause he's such a good-lookin' man...

Silvio Berlusconi launches attack on Mario Monti
11 December 2012 - Silvio Berlusconi is fighting his sixth general election campaign

Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has launched a pre-election attack on his successor, Mario Monti, saying the country is now worse off. He accused Mr Monti of following policies which benefited Berlin, saying Germany had lowered its own borrowing costs at the expense of other states. Mr Monti is due to resign after Mr Berlusconi's party withdrew its support for his government on Thursday. Mr Berlusconi will run in the February election, but Mr Monti has not decided.

There has been speculation that Mr Monti could run in the election, by forming a new party or joining forces with a centrist grouping; or, that he could run for president when the job becomes vacant next year. It is the sixth election campaign for Mr Berlusconi, leader of the conservative People of Freedom party, who is now 76. The sudden political uncertainty in Italy, the third-biggest economy in the eurozone, has unsettled financial markets.

Spread 'trick'

But Mr Berlusconi dismissed news on Tuesday that the spread - the differential between Italian and benchmark German bonds, a closely watched measure of investor unease - had widened further. "What do we care about the spread?" he told Canale 5 television, part of his own media empire. "The spread is a trick and an invention with which they tried to bring down the majority that ruled the country," he said, referring to his last government, which collapsed just over a year ago when he resigned amid panic on the markets. "Monti followed policies that were too German-centric," he continued. "All the economic statistics have worsened."

The office of Italian President Giorgio Napolitano announced at the weekend that Mr Monti had "made clear his intention to present his resignation". Speaking to Italian state TV on Tuesday, Mr Monti, a well-respected economist who was called in to form a crisis cabinet after Mr Berlusconi's resignation, did not comment directly on his future. However, he said he wanted to continue playing a role in influencing opinion in Italy. "I think I did it when I was a professor, I'm trying to do it in this brief period when I'm prime minister," he said. "I'm sure that whatever hat I'm wearing in future, I will continue to do it."

Year of austerity