Italy has €200 billion in non-performing loans, plus another €150bn of troubled debt. It has no productivity growth for 15 years, through its own fault.

As one might expect under such conditions, prime minister Matteo Renzi has openly attacked the policies of the EU on numerous fronts including energy, Russia, fiscal deficits, and German dominance of the entire apparatus.

How much longer can this go on before a Eurosceptic opposition party gains control?

"Italy's long-term sustainability in the eurozone is just as uncertain as that of Greece," says Financial Times writer Wolfgang Münchau in his article Athens and Rome Expose Europe's Greatest Faultlines.