Nobody wants the Recovery Fund
In a paper published in this magazine, I pointed out that in the last fifty years Italy has accumulated a huge public debt due to the exorbitant interests imposed by the so-called “free market”. Even today our country pays 2% more than other countries, such as France or Spain, whose economic fundamentals are no better than ours.
I attribute this negative circumstance to a kind of toll which we are forced to pay, not for objective market reasons or reliability in the government management, which fifty years of super payments made on time would make grotesque. Rather, I see the cause in the attitude of our ruling class and politicians who are used to settle for whatever is available. Precisely: the subculture of begging.
This issue seems to stand out with emphasis these days. Prime Minister Conte and his government are fighting hard for the Recovery Fund on Europe. This is not an attempt to make others pay our public debt. Instead, it is an opportunity to establish that from now on interest rates on debt have to be similar for all the EU members. However, some European countries disagree and among them there are the worst ethically virtuous, and the not so much “frugal” ones, given the high private debt of their citizens. Frankly, we do not understand why.
Germany, the country with the largest power in Europe, whose big banks are probably among those that determine the so-called “free market”, is also against. Nevertheless, thanks to Conte government and eight other Member States, including France and Spain, the chickens are coming home to roost.
Germany is in great embarrassment and no longer makes a show of force. Ursula Von der Leyen, a German politician, chairs the European government, which was elected only a year ago with the decisive votes of the 5-Star Movement.
Germany and Italy
In addition, Germany, turned at the head of the EU, offers Chancellor Angela Merkel two possibilities: on the one hand, she can endorse the Recovery Fund immediately and possibly strengthen it, on the other hand she could decree the death by Coronavirus (and already…) of the European project.
In Italy, numerous political parties do not understand or pretend not to understand. Opponent parties, such as Forza Italia, and a part of the government majority, such as the
