Italy is heading for an early March election with populists on Left and Right leading the polls with two thirds of voters behind them. They’ve abandoned plans to leave the euro, plotting instead ‘to subvert monetary union from the inside with parallel currencies and deficit spending in open violation of the Maastricht Treaty. All view the euro system as a racket run largely in the interests of Germany.’ (Telegraph). Italian output is still low compared to pre-2008 levels and not much improved from the mid 1990s when the lira was pegged to the deutschemark. The result is likely to be a hung parliament.
The EU will be watching with trepidation through February and more so come late March onwards as tr Saturn opposes the composite Pluto, then Uranus; with the Eclipse conjunct the composite Mars Venus, which tr Uranus then aspects into 2019 as well as opposing the composite Saturn. So there are likely to be ructions.
Where the Bank of Italy, 10 August 1893, looks in better fettle is by 2022 onwards, but there’ll be a fair few mountains to climb before they get there.
Machiavellian? Political parties may think on these terms, but not Italian voters. I actually don’t see euro being an issue on these elections, for voters, at all. Source? My Social Media feed, which actually has a reach in Italy to be almost scientific (you know how The US polls are based to 1000 answers…). And while yes, 2015 and 2016 were all about exiting at least Euro, from all parts, it’s has not been that way for months. Things people seem to care is refugee crisis, since people still continue crossing Mediterranean Sea and dying in process and work – this is a perpetual problem in Italy. But not “Germans rigging us”. Not on 2016 levels, at least, since there has always been an anti-German streak in Italy due to history.
The thing is, Italy, too, had a record economic growth not only since entrance to Euro, but since the early 1990’s, this year. This is obviously mostly because of Global Economy working in a historically unprecendented way in 2016 and 2017 – all macro economic areas experiencing simultaneous growth – despite political turmoil. So, Italians, who’ve never been particularly happy with their politician, and have been down right nihilistic since 1992 – for instance, despite being able to organize spectacular rallies, Berlusconi never invoked Trump-like devotion – are not voting on economic terms this time.