Quote from Ivanovich:
Fed absolutely has a large part to do with it. But how do you explain the Euro at multi year highs - even all time highs - against other currencies?
Incidently, what is the percentage of Italians who would prefer a return to the Euro?
None in his right mind.
Seriously, it depends who you ask to. Some old people or simple people with no specific economic knowledge will tell that they want the old Lira, beacause they are pissed off from the speculations during the changeover period, by those economic operators with pricing power. Prices, especially in restaurants and pizzerias, nearly doubled in a two years. Other food prices in supermarkets actually didn't go up that much, they went up in line with official inflation, but people are pissed off and complain anyway, because they like to complain
Some clever politicians, a few years ago, used to exploit that feeling about the lira, that's the reason you can now read that old statements.
Now it's completely different.
If you ask some more educated people, they will tell you "NEVER ! thank god we have the euro", because with the old Lira, in the current financial difficulties, with soaring prices of oil and commodities, it would have been a catastrophe.
We already had the '70, with raising oil prices, and salaries linked to inflation, and a resulting even higher inflation. it was really really really bad.
Political and monetary power are in different hands. Central banks are privately controlled. Political power changes every 4 or 5 years with the elections, monetary power doesn't.
I think that the international bankers that invented the euro will keep the system going, forcing reforms whereas necessary. In Italy the next move will be a big pension reform to cut public debt.
With regards to your other question, the euro at multi year high against other currencies, actually I'm looking right now at a 5 year chart of EUR/CAD, EUR/JPY, EUR/CHF, EUR/AUD, but they are not. Euro is high only against US dollar and UK pound.
Even EUR/CAD is at 1.5884, like in the period 2002-2005.