I was exploring data on various countries, and came across the chart above. Currently, Italy has a 127% debt to GDP ratio. I imagine that within a few years not only will it replay its flirt with bankruptcy like it did before, but it will make Greece look like a drop in the bucket. But that is besides the point. The next chart is what made me interested.
| - |
G6 (EU) |
8,972.6 |
76% |
| 1 |
 United States |
8,133.5 |
70% |
| 2 |
 Germany |
3,390.6 |
66% |
| 3 |
 International Monetary Fund |
2,814.0 |
N.A. |
| 4 |
 Italy |
2,451.8 |
65% |
| 5 |
 France |
2,435.4 |
65% |
| 6 |
 China |
1,054.1 |
1% |
| 7 |
 Switzerland |
1,040.1 |
8% |
| 8 |
 Russia |
1,015.4[11] |
|
| 9 |
 Japan |
765.2 |
2% |
| 10 |
 Netherlands |
612.5 |
52% |
| 11 |
 India |
557.7 |
7% |
| 12 |
 European Central Bank |
502.1 |
27% |
| 13 |
 Turkey |
487.3[12] |
16.2% |
| 14 |
 Taiwan |
423.6 |
4% |
| 15 |
 Portugal |
382.5 |
84.0% |
| 16 |
 Venezuela |
365.8 |
66.0% |
| 17 |
 Saudi Arabia |
322.9 |
2% |
| 18 |
 United Kingdom |
310.3 |
12% |
| 19 |
 Lebanon |
286.8 |
22% |
| 20 |
 Spain |
281.6 |
23% |
| 21 |
 Austria |
280.0 |
48% |
| 22 |
 Belgium |
227.4 |
33% |
| 23 |
 Philippines |
192.7 |
9% |
| 24 |
 Algeria |
173.6 |
3% |
| 25 |
 Thailand |
152.4 |
3% |
| 26 |
 Kazakhstan |
130.9 |
19% |
| 27 |
 Singapore |
127.4 |
2% |
| 28 |
 Sweden |
125.7 |
7% |
| 29 |
 South Africa |
125.1 |
10% |
| 30 |
 Mexico |
124.9 |
3% |
| 31 |
 Libya |
116.6 |
4% |
| 32 |
 Bank for International Settlements |
115.0 |
N.A. |
| 33 |
 Greece |
112.0 |
76% |
| 34 |
 South Korea |
104.4 |
1% |
| 35 |
 Romania |
103.7 |
9% |
| 36 |
 Poland |
102.9 |
4% |
| 37 |
 Australia |
79.9 |
6% |
| 38 |
 Kuwait |
79.0 |
9% |
| 39 |
 Indonesia |
75.9 |
3% |
| 40 |
 Egypt |
75.6 |
21% |
| 41 |
 Federative Republic of Brazil |
67.0 |
1.0% |
| 42 |
 Kingdom of Denmark |
66.5 |
3.5% |
| 43 |
 Islamic Republic of Pakistan |
64.4 |
27.4% |
| 44 |
 Argentine Republic |
61.7 |
7.2% |
| 45 |
 Republic of Belarus |
49.4 |
24.5% |
| 46 |
 Republic of Finland |
49.1 |
21.3% |
| 47 |
 Plurinational State of Bolivia |
42.3 |
13.6% |
| 48 |
 Republic of Bulgaria |
40.0 |
9.3% |
| 49 |
West African Economic and Monetary Union |
36.5 |
12.0% |
| 50 |
 Malaysia |
36.4 |
1.2% |
| 51 |
 Ukraine |
36.4 |
6.7% |
| 52 |
 Republic of Peru |
34.7 |
2.3% |
| 53 |
 Slovakia |
31.8 |
64.7% |
| 54 |
 Nepal |
30.1 |
22.9% |
| 55 |
 Republic of Iraq |
29.8 |
2.0% |
| 56 |
 Republic of Ecuador |
26.3 |
28.1% |
| 57 |
 Syrian Arab Republic |
25.8 |
6.5% |
| 58 |
 Kingdom of Morocco |
22.0 |
5.7% |
| 59 |
 Islamic Republic of Afghanistan |
21.9 |
13.8% |
| 60 |
 Federal Republic of Nigeria |
21.4 |
2.0% |
| 61 |
 Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka |
16.6 |
11.2% |
| 62 |
 Republic of Serbia |
16.6 |
4.8% |
| 63 |
 Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan |
14.2 |
5.5% |
| 64 |
 Republic of Cyprus |
13.9 |
65.8% |
| 65 |
 People's Republic of Bangladesh |
13.5 |
4.2% |
| 66 |
 Kingdom of Cambodia |
12.4 |
11.1% |
| 67 |
 State of Qatar |
12.4 |
1.4% |
| 68 |
 Czech Republic |
11.0 |
1.1% |
| 69 |
 Republic of Colombia |
10.4 |
1.2% |
| 70 |
 Lao People's Democratic Republic |
8.9 |
34.4% |
| 71 |
 Republic of Ghana |
8.7 |
7.1% |
| 72 |
 Republic of Paraguay |
8.7 |
6.2% |
| 73 |
 Republic of Latvia |
7.7 |
4.6% |
| 74 |
 Republic of the Union of Myanmar |
7.3 |
4.4% |
| 75 |
 Republic of El Salvador |
7.3 |
10.6% |
| 76 |
 Republic of Guatemala |
6.9 |
4.3% |
| 77 |
 Republic of Macedonia |
6.8 |
11.1% |
| 78 |
 Tunisian Republic |
6.7 |
4.4% |
| 79 |
 Republic of Tajikistan |
6.4 |
51.1% |
| 80 |
 Republic of Azerbaijan |
6.0 |
2.0% |
| 81 |
 Ireland |
6.0 |
16.6% |
| 82 |
 Republic of Lithuania |
5.8 |
3.5% |
| 83 |
 Mongolia |
5.8 |
7.4% |
| 84 |
 Kingdom of Bahrain |
4.7 |
3.7% |
| 85 |
 Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace |
4.0 |
4.9% |
| 86 |
 Republic of Mauritius |
3.9 |
5.2% |
| 87 |
 Republic of Mozambique |
3.7 |
6.6% |
| 88 |
 Kyrgyz Republic |
3.3 |
7.1% |
| 89 |
 Canada |
3.2 |
0.2% |
| 90 |
 Republic of Slovenia |
3.2 |
18.5% |
| 91 |
 Aruba |
3.1 |
18.5% |
| 92 |
 Hungary |
3.1 |
0.3% |
| 93 |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina |
3.0 |
3.1% |
| 94 |
 Grand Duchy of Luxembourg |
2.2 |
10.7% |
| 95 |
 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region |
2.1 |
0.0% |
| 96 |
 Republic of Iceland |
2.0 |
2.2% |
| 97 |
 Independent State of Papua New Guinea |
2.0 |
2.3% |
| 98 |
 Republic of Trinidad and Tobago |
1.9 |
0.9% |
| 99 |
 Republic of Albania |
1.6 |
2.8% |
| 100 |
 Republic of Yemen |
1.6 |
1.2% |
|
Sum | | | | | | |
As you can see, Italy has the 4th largest gold reserves in the world. Perhaps they would sell that gold during a financial panic in order to buy up assets, thus putting pressure on gold. Is it likely? No. But if it means inflating to save financial institutions and/or the government, selling gold seems like the sane option, since not only is the Euro not the worlds reserve currency, but it would wreck inflation not only on Italy, but all of Europe.
