Labour Minister Roberto Maroni suggested last week that a solution to the high prices in Italy, which many blame on the introduction of the Euro, could be solved by returning to the Italian Lira monetary system.
In an interview with an important national newspaper, Maroni stated that it would at least alleviate problems if a double monetary system was reintroduced in Italy. With the Lira reinstated the export of goods, for example, would once again prosper due to the possibility of a devaluated Lira.
Although Maroni is a leading member of Berlusconi’s parliament, Berlusconi himself refused to accept Maroni’s comments as a logical solution to Italy’s economic recession.
Maroni represents the Northern League, which is a separatist group, largely made up of small and mid-sized business owners from the northern regions of Italy who have long been against the Euro and the EU as a whole.
In the midst of an increasingly severe economic crisis and with major elections coming up next year, Maroni’s statements may be a sign that politicians are beginning to respond more to citizen’s distress over the skyrocketing prices for goods, which have been on a constant rise since the Euro was instated in 2001. And, in the wake of what seems to be a spreading backlash against the EU, as is occurring in France and Holland, some politicians may start looking more closely at separatist policies to attract the voting population.
