Leaving the euro is not going to solve Italy’s economic problems, despite what the populist Five Star Movement is telling voters. We would argue that it’s not a lack of price competitiveness that is weighing on growth, but a deeply entrenched confluence of structural problems: high public debt, low productivity, political clientelism and a dysfunctional banking system. While none of these are caused by the euro, leaving the single currency would exacerbate them. READ MORE