#41 reminded me about Italy.
"According to a recent study conducted by the BlackRock Investment Institute, the ratio of household debt to personal income in the United States is now 154 percent."
You know, they tend to put Italy in the PIIGS. Ostensibly, yeah, they may not look good but dig deeper and there's something more. Aside from actually being a major producing nation (unlike Greece, Portugal and to a lesser extent Spain), two very important facts to keep in mind.
Italy's debt is (mostly) owed to itself and the personal net worth (includes savings) in Italy is about $350 000. HUGE difference from here where we have negative savings.
A third factor, and is really a legendary point about the peninsula, is that Italy's black market is calculated to be anywhere between 35% and 60% of its GDP. Italy's GDP is slightly less than France and UK. Add back the black market it's closer to Germany.
Italy has cash. What it doesn't have is growth (and is a net importer of oil).
I guess the state has never really figured out how to gain the trust of the people(Italians are less likely to invest than other G7 members). Mattresses in Italy must be really, really heavy.
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