“You don’t have to have a PhD in economics to figure out that NO government can afford to spend its entire defense budget every time a couple of medium-sized banks need a bailout…”

Bron: Italy’s Newest Bank Bailout Cost As Much As Its Annual Defense Budget

“… so the government stepped in with a bailout and guarantee package that could cost taxpayers as much as 17 billion euros.

That’s a lot of money in Italy – around 1% of GDP. In fact it’s basically as much as the 17.1 billion euros they spent on national defense last year (according to an estimate by Italian think tank IAI).

You don’t have to have a PhD in economics to figure out that NO government can afford to spend its entire defense budget every time a couple of medium-sized banks need a bailout.”