Economics
Italy’s Broken Finances Bring Back Fears of Messy Euro Divorce
Gut check for investors in Italy relying on history, hope and the ECB
This article is for subscribers only.
On the September night in 1992 when George Soros famously broke the Bank of England, it wasn’t just the British pound that crashed. The Italian lira cratered too, the last of its numerous 20th century devaluations.
One veteran who is still at the Finance Ministry in Rome recalls a colleague researching “bankruptcy” and “failed state” amid the chaos as resentment swelled at the indifference of European allies, notably Germany.