Could Italy "blackmail" the rest of Europe?
In the recent period we saw that the Italian government was implementing part of its programme, with a larger fiscal deficit than what was forecast, and that financial markets reacted very negatively to this fiscal policy choice. What will Europe (the other European countries, the European Commission, the ECB) do if the downturn in Italy's financial markets is amplified? Will they let this downturn occur (to "punish" Italy) or will they intervene to help Italy (renewed quantitative easing, use of the ESM if interest rates become very high in Italy, etc.) and also to prevent contagion to the other countries? In other words, could Italy "blackmail" the rest of Europe? On the one hand, Europe definitely wants a country that deviates from the rules to be "punished"; on the other hand, Europe cannot take the risk of a break-up of the euro.