Annotated Bibliography 8

Annotated Bibliography 8:

MLA:

"BBC News - Italy crisis: Silvio Berlusconi resigns as PM." BBC - Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15708729>.

This article explains, in short, Berlusconi’s effect on the Italian economy. Berlusconi was forced to resign after dominating Italy’s politics for 17 years due to his loss of majority in parliament because of the European debt crisis that now threatens the euro zone. He promised to resign once parliament approved the austerity measures which include an increase in VAT, a freeze on the public-sector salaries until 2014, the retirement age for women rising, measures to fight tax evasion to be strengthened, and adding a special tax on the energy sector. This package foresees 59.6 billion euros in savings with the aim of balancing the budget by 2014.  This article is very straightforward, but slightly biased against Berlusconi due to the large amount of scandals surrounding him. I found this article very helpful due to the fact that it clearly explained the austerity measures that Italy is planning to take and the expected effects of these measures.