[caption id="attachment_1250" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Standing Around While Rome Burns"][/caption] Last October I spent a week in Rome. The tax police (Guardia di Finanza) were EVERYWHERE, and NO ONE was paying any tax...and the Communists were decrying government "austerity" measures;

[caption id="attachment_1252" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Italy Is Not Greece"][/caption]

If it does turn out that Italy needs a bailout, it is going to change the entire game in Europe.

What is going on in Italy right now is potentially far more serious than what has been going on in Greece. Italy is the fourth largest economy in the European Union. If Italy requires a bailout, the rest of Europe might not be able to handle it.

An anonymous European Central Bank source told one German newspaper the following on Sunday....

"The existing rescue fund in Europe is not sufficient to provide a credible defensive wall for Italy"

The source also added that the current bailout fund "was never designed for that".

Uh Oh – Italy Is Coming Apart Like a 20-Dollar Suit.