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Populism and partition? Europe's bleak forecast for the year ahead
Populism and partition? Europe's bleak forecast for the year ahead | Mujtaba Rahman | Global Stage

Populism and partition? Europe's bleak forecast for the year ahead

GZERO’s Tony Maciulis joins Mujtaba Rahman, Eurasia Group's Managing Director for Europe, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference to discuss the pressing political and economic situation in Europe. Rahman looks ahead to the EU Parliament's upcoming elections, highlighting concerns over populist party performance. “[Populists] will certainly be better represented” Rahman tells Maciulis, “but that being said, the impacts on policy will be marginal at best.”

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Medieval Italy, the Peruzzis & the world's first bank run
The world's first bank run: the Peruzzis of medieval Italy | GZERO World

Medieval Italy, the Peruzzis & the world's first bank run

Bank runs. Market volatility. Panic in the streets. When I say we’ve been here before, I don’t just mean 2008 or 1929. One of the earliest recorded bank runs dates back to the 14th century. Italian city-states like Florence and Venice sat at the crossroads of trade routes between Asia and Europe and were financial hubs. In the early 1300s, the “Peruzzi” family quickly became one of the most powerful and wealthy in Florence, through a highly profitable textile trade that focused on imported English wool.

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A shopper pays with a euro bank note in a market in Nice, France, amid sky-high inflation.

REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Hard Numbers: Eurozone inflation record, Saudi woman sentenced for tweeting, US life expectancy drops, Russia cuts off gas to EU … again

9.1: Year-on-year inflation in the Eurozone’s 19 countries rose to 9.1% in August, up from 8.9% last month. It’s the highest rate on record since the group began recording in 1997, and will put pressure on the European Central Bank to again raise interest rates, raising the likelihood of a recession in some EU countries.

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European small biz owners impacted by Ukraine war and COVID, says head of industry group
European Small Biz Owners Impacted by Ukraine War and COVID, Says Industry Expert | GZERO Media

European small biz owners impacted by Ukraine war and COVID, says head of industry group

What's the outlook for European small businesses these days?

Not as good as SME owners would like, according to Véronique Willems, secretary general of SMEUnited, an organization representing some 22.5 million European small businesses that employ almost 82.4 million people across 30 European countries.

In recent months, European SMEs have been hit by the double whammy of COVID spikes due to the omicron variant and now higher energy prices due to Russia's war in Ukraine, Willems explains during a livestream conversation on small businesses and pandemic recovery hosted by GZERO Media in partnership with Visa.

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Italy’s dysfunctional politics
Ian Explains: Italy’s Dysfunctional Politics | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

Italy’s dysfunctional politics

Italy's economy was already weak before the pandemic, but saw a nearly 9-point decline in GDP over the past year. While unemployment was dropping from a decade high reached in 2014, it was still around 10% in early 2020. And if you don't like Italy's political leaders…just wait a minute. They'll change. In fact, since 1989 the country has had 18 prime ministers. By comparison, Germany has had only three chancellors and France just five presidents. Can Italy's new Prime Minister pull the country out of its political tailspin? Ian Bremmer explains on GZERO World.

Watch the GZERO World episode: Italy in Europe's spotlight: insights from former PM Enrico Letta

Why Italy's third COVID lockdown is different
Why Italy's Third COVID Lockdown Is Different | Former Italian PM Enrico Letta | GZERO World

Why Italy's third COVID lockdown is different

A year ago, a horrific series of photos of overflowing hospitals in Italy's Lombardy region made many Americans realize that this pandemic was going to have devastating results. And now, over 100,000 deaths later, Italy is entering its third lockdown. But this time is different, says former Prime Minister Enrico Letta, because now a lockdown doesn't mean a total economic shutdown. And there's hope on the horizon, as long as the country can get its act together on the vaccines front.

Letta's conversation with Ian Bremmer is part of a new episode of GZERO World, which began airing on US public television stations nationwide on Friday, March 26. Check local listings.

Watch the episode: Italy in Europe's spotlight: insights from former PM Enrico Letta

AstraZeneca vaccine politics may further damage Europe's economy
AstraZeneca Vaccine Politics May Further Damage Europe's Economy | World In :60 | GZERO Media

AstraZeneca vaccine politics may further damage Europe's economy

Ian Bremmer shares his perspective on the latest news in global politics on World In :60 - that is, :180.


First. What is going on with the AstraZeneca vaccine?

Well, around Europe, we have all of these countries that have suspended giving out AstraZeneca vaccines, because there have been some side effects of people that are taking it. Blood clots, a tiny number of folks, actually fewer side effects for AstraZeneca than we've seen for Pfizer, but it's become this big political show. After a few countries start shutting it down, others do because they can't be left by themselves. I just talked to a major senior official from one country saying, "Yeah, we were under pressure. We want to keep it going." World Health Organization said it's fine. AstraZeneca itself who has done the trials, say it's fine. And this is slowing down an already very slow vaccine rollout in Europe. They were doing a lot of things reasonably well in terms of dealing with the pandemic, but absolutely not this. They're a couple of months behind the United States right now in terms of getting to herd immunity. This is going to slow them down. It's going to hurt their economic growth this year. Okay.

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Mario Draghi will become Italy's new PM; EU weighs Myanmar reaction
Mario Draghi Will Become Italy’s New PM | EU Weighs Myanmar Reaction | Europe In :60 | GZERO Media

Mario Draghi will become Italy's new PM; EU weighs Myanmar reaction

Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Sweden, with the view from Europe:

What's happening in Italy and can Mario Draghi fix it?

Mario Draghi will now take over political leadership of Italy as prime minister. That's a very major development. He has a lot of credibility in Europe, certainly, but also in Italy. And I think that he will now have a political momentum for at least a couple of months that I hope that he can use to press through some of these fundamental economic and other reforms that Italy and equally Europe so desperately needs. It's a very major development indeed.

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