Will Spain’s Debt Crisis Impact Italy?

Spain’s reticence to ask for help in managing its escalating debt crisis continues. In the face of protests against austerity measures, a shrinking GDP and one of the highest unemployment rates in the industrialized world, Spanish authorities will likely hold off asking for a bailout package. And, despite modest gains from its austerity plan, Italy harbors fears of contagion from the crisis in Spain. This is a defining moment, notes Senior Fellow Domenico Lombardi.