Italy can't blame Brussels for its descent into the abyss | Phillip Inman

As much as some want to believe it, the EU has little to do with the country's failure to put its house in order

As Italians wrestle with their constitution and possibly head towards another general election, are they victims of a financial swindle perpetrated by the Germans? To read some of the commentary, and hear voices from the streets of Rome and Naples, you would think that they were.

The people of Athens accused the Germans and, to a lesser extent, the French, who between them are the main props of the single currency, of being the architects of their impoverishment. It seems many Italians have followed suit.

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The mafia, mass early retirement, tax evasion and a low birthrate. These are problems created in Italy

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