Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Italy is about to hijack the eurozone

Italy is about to hijack the eurozone

There is still some debate about who came up with the adage that ‘if you owe the bank $100 that is your problem. If you owe the bank $1 million dollars that is their problem’. It is usually attributed to the oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, which may help explain how he became the richest man of his era. Occasionally, and in a slightly modified form, it is attributed to John Maynard Keynes in his advice to the British cabinet after world war two. And yet in truth, it should probably have been coined by an Italian. Why? Because the country now owes so much money to the rest of the eurozone it looks about to hijack the whole system.
With Italian debt soaring as it pays for one of the worst outbreaks of Covid-19, on the back of one of the world’s weakest economies, calls are being made for that debt to be ‘forgiven’. Riccardo Fraccaro, the Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s closest aide, has started demanding the ‘cancelling of sovereign bonds bought during the pandemic or perpetually extending their maturity’ (which is sort of the same thing, since a debt with a ‘perpetually extended maturity’ is a polite way of saying it is a debt you don’t plan to ever repay). In other words, a huge slice of Italy’s outstanding €2.2 trillion (£1.9 trillion) of debt would simply be magicked away.

When you owe that much money, you can hijack the system
Not surprisingly, that is causing a certain amount of unease among the other countries in the eurozone. The President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde has already said it would be illegal under the treaties. The Governor of the Bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, described it today as a 'very dangerous path’, while his Portuguese counter-part Fabio Panetta argued it would have ‘destabilizing consequences’. Well, maybe it would. But what exactly is anyone going to do about it? In truth, the ECB and the eurozone are about to be put in a very difficult place.

Italy already owes vast sums of money, which its shrivelled, shrunken economy, battered by 20 years inside a dysfunctional monetary union, won’t be able to cope with. Of its €2.2 trillions of debt, the third-highest in the world in absolute terms, the majority is now owned either by the ECB, which has bought up virtually every new issue this year, or else by Italian and other eurozone banks.

Cancellation, or the more fudged ‘perpetual maturity’, is the only option left. In effect, Italy is now turning the tables on Germany, and ‘frugals’ within the eurozone. The debt will either have to be taken onto the books of the ECB or else reneged on, which would collapse the banking system.

The Germans will be outraged by that, and so will the Dutch and the Finns, and perhaps too the French. But then again, President Macron may soon be having a quiet word with his central bank governor to point out that France’s debts will soon be the third highest in the world in absolute terms. France isn’t close to Italy when it comes to debt as a percentage of GDP, but as a bigger economy it will soon owe more overall and its debt is far more widely held around the world. So perhaps, from a French perspective, cancellation isn’t such a terrible idea after all.

In truth, when you owe that much money, you can hijack the system, and the debtor can take control. Lord Keynes or J. Paul Getty, if they were around, could have pointed that out to the founders of the eurozone right at the start — but now it looks as if they will have to relearn that lesson for themselves.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
A monster hit and a billion-dollar toy empire
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
Canada: Nurse Suspended and Fined 93 Thousand Dollars After Stating the World’s Most Well-Known Fact Since the Creation of Adam and Eve, That There Are Only Two Genders
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
U.S. Treasury Secretary Whitney Bessent Backs Stablecoins to Boost Treasury Demand
Spain to Declare Disaster Zones After Massive Wildfires
Three-Minute Battery Swap Touted as Future of EVs
Beijing Military Parade to Showcase Weapons Advances
U.S. Tech Stocks Slide on AI Boom Concerns
White House Confirms Talks Over Intel Stake
Trump Suggests U.S. Could Support Ukraine ‘By Air’
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
UK Government Tries to Sue 4chan for Breaching Online Safety Act
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
"Every Centimeter of Your Body Is a Masterpiece": The Shocking Meta Document Revealed
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
China Requires Data Centres to Source Majority of AI Chips Locally, For Technological Sovereignty
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
OpenAI’s ‘PhD-Level’ ChatGPT 5 Stumbles, Struggles to Even Label a Map
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×