Freedom Against Tyranny – The Economist
The Economist, the magazine of the classical liberal vanguard, has fought an open war with Silvio Berlusconi.
This is a brave thing to do. This is a man who became very rich, has very powerful friends, and is open about his links to to P2 Masonic lodge who were linked to the bombing of Bologna‘s railway station killing 85 people.
Economist 2 – Berlusonin 0
Mr Berlussoni sued The Economist for libel. He lost. The Economist challenged him on many fronts, asked where he got his funds to start in business, questioned the potential conflict of interest with his business dealings and his role as PM. The Italian courts found the Economist had no case to the answer.
Of course, the real tragedy is that Italy felt compelled to elect and re-elect him. Only the threat of bankrupting the country (well it seems it is bankrupt already) and the utter contempt Europe’s other leaders appeared to have for him, that Italy had a technocratic elite government imposed on them.
Gaddafi & Mugabe – Economic Partners
The real tragedy is that during his rule, Italy had lower economic growth rates that all countries, except Libya and Zimbabwe, also run by slightly crackpot dictators.
That the Italian and Libyan leaders were close friends with closer business connections is openly known. The Libyan crackpot dictators departure must be a great loss for Berlusconi, family and his friends.
You can read the story here.