Italy

With financial markets poised to react to the pivotal Italian constitutional referendum on December 4, consensus suggests that a ‘yes’ vote to the reforms will be positive for asset prices and a ‘no’ represents a sell signal. According to leading Italian commentators, however, a ‘yes’ vote will not fix Italy’s problems and the issues at play are not just black and white, but instead are far more complex than people seem to understand.

Despite Italian Prime Minister Mateo Renzi's solemn denials that he will resign when, not if, the Italian constitutional referendum fails on December 4, it is now obvious that the Italian government is on the verge of collapse. And in yet another U-turn Renzi admitted as much himself, when according to La Repubblica, he told his entourage this weekend that the government would fall if he loses Dec. 4 constitutional referendum. “It’s very simple: if I lose the referendum this government falls.

Submitted by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Italy’s government is on the verge of collapse. Prime minister Matteo Renzi reiterated his position just yesterday, he will not hang on if a referendum he seeks does not pass.

Polls show the referendum will fail. Then again, polls have not been remarkably accurate recently, to say the least. On the other hand, this poll shows a strong preference to what is labeled “populism”.

Submitted by Soeren Kern via The Gatestone Institute,

• The National Front party has accused Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo of putting the concerns of migrants ahead of those of French citizens. In a statement, the party said that the number of homeless people in Paris had increased by 84% between 2002 and 2012, but that Hidalgo has shown little interest in alleviating the problem.

Not only is support growing in the United States for candidates that are perceived to be 'outside of the establishment', and recently and very notably in Austria, Germany and France, but as of today, in countries such as Italy.