Birdstorm Season in Rome (and in Italian Politics)

Fall brings thousands of small migratory birds to Tiber alluvial plain. They flock in dense clouds that cross the sky in eerie beautiful formations. They fill the branches of the trees along the river, and dust the streets along the river with …  well, you know.  The Italian word for it translates as: birdstorm. Tourists and squeegee men love them (unless caught underneath); car owners and terrazzo lovers, not so much.  (There is a video at the bottom of this post.)

 Another birdstorm of sorts is playing out with the Italian government. The governing coalition has just presented a budget –which caused a flurry of condemnation from all sides of the political spectrum. Both center right and center left -ie the governing parties, though they don’t act like it- denounced the budget for what it does not do, namely increase spending or cut taxes. Even the namby-pamby center, which usually thinks that any government that avoid being kicked out of Europe is doing fine, had a few unkind words. The unions called for street demonstrations and a general strike. The business association, for the umpteenth time, declared that it despairs for the future of Italian industry…

Sadly, they are all right, of course. The budget will neither generate new jobs nor put the country on a more solid financial footing. It is neither fish nor fowl, neither stimulus nor austerity. Even more sadly, Italians are going to have to get used to such budgets. The country’s debt amounts to over 130% of its gdp and interest rates are at all time lows. I can’t see the country getting out from under this mountain of debt in the next 10 years. Most sadly of all, politicians are not being clear with the Italian public about what realistically can be expected.

If they did... that would really generate a ****storm no little birds could match.