Greece, Italy Face Shifting Governments

Now three others are being discussed, although two have denied it; parliamentary speaker Filippos Petsalnikos and socialist lawmaker Apostolos Kaklamanis have said they were not selected, although Greek media have mentioned them as possible candidates. The third man, Vassilios Skouris, was mentioned by the ruling socialist party; Skouris is the president of the European Court of Justice.

In Italy, reported Bloomberg, the fear is that a change in leadership will not do enough to reassure world markets that the country is serious about its own financial reforms. Simon Smith, chief economist at foreign-exchange broker FXPro Group Ltd., was quoted in the report saying, “Whoever is in charge, the numbers remain the same and this morning they are even worse. This Roman road is currently leading to a cliff. Events have moved far faster than the labored political process of the EU can deal with.”

He is not the only economist to voice concern over the situation. Fredrik Erixon, head of the European Center for International Political Economy in Brussels, was quoted saying, “Italy is now in a dance of death. What we need is a strong reaction from other euro zone leaders to calm markets. But we don’t have it.”