Annotated Bibliography 7

Annotated Bibliography 7:

DONADIO, RACHEL, and ELISABETTA POVOLEDO. "Italy’s Leader, Silvio Berlusconi, Offers to Resign - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/world/europe/support-for-berlusconi-ebbs-before-crucial-vote.html?pagewanted=all>.

This article by Donadio and Povoledo describes the reasons behind Berlusconi’s forced resignation along with his lasting impact on the Italian economy. After Italy’s Parliament passed austerity measures demanded by the European Union, Berlusconi resigned, ending his 17 year dominance over Italy, and declaring that he would no longer run for office again. However, the real reason behind his resignation was a combination of the pressure of the markets, driving Italy’s borrowing costs to record highs, and the European Union, which “could not risk his dragging down the euro and with it the world economy.” Berlusconi had lost his majority in Parliament and his time in power was surrounded with sex scandals and corruption trials. When he stepped down peacefully and anticlimactically, he said, “today’s vote reinforced my concerns about the moment that we are experiencing, a situation where the markets do not believe that we really want to introduce the liberalizing measures that Europe insistently asked us to carry out.” The 10-year Italian bonds are approaching 7%, which is the “highest level since the adoption of the euro 10 years ago and close to levels that have required other euro zone countries to seek bailouts.” However, these levels have helped the US economy, with stocks rising with hopes that the political change of Berlusconi stepping down would ease the European debt crisis. However, “the problem is a lack of trust from the financial markets,” not necessarily the debt of about $2.6 trillion. But Italy’s credibility has gone down because of Berlusconi and the question we all ask now is will Berlusconi’s exit allow the Italian economy to be fixed? This article is extremely biased against Berlusconi in the beginning, speaking of his extreme negative impact on the Italian economy and all of the problems that he has caused. However, as the article progresses, it begins to talk more about the facts about the economy and uses quotes from outside sources discussing the Italian economy today and how it could turn out in the future.