Italy Next In Line to Bail Out of the Euro

Looks like all that European unity may be coming to a close. First the French and then the Dutch reject the constitution, Germany starts hinting that it may quit using the Euro, and now Italy is talking about bringing back the Lira:

Italy should consider leaving the single currency and reintroducing the lira, Welfare Minister Roberto Maroni said in a newspaper interview on Friday.

Maroni, a member of the euro-skeptical Northern League party, told the Repubblica daily Italy should hold a referendum to decide whether to return to the lira, at least temporarily.

He also said European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet was one of those chiefly responsible for the "disaster of the euro."

The euro "has proved inadequate in the face of the economic slowdown, the loss of competitiveness and the job crisis," Maroni said.

In this situation, the answer is to give the government greater power to defend national industry from foreign competition and "to give control over the exchange rate back to the government."

As I recall the Lira has such low value you practically had to carry them around in wheelbarrows to buy even the smallest item. You almost couldn't see the pictures on the bills due to the huge number of zeroes in the denomination. We'll see how far the Italian government wants to push this.

Also, not too long ago there was talk of shifting the official world oil prices from dollars to Euros, which would have had a dramatically bad effect on the dollar. I think those days are over.