Parmigiano-Reggiano

A late-morning macchiato as I try to bring structure to the growing article. Outside the summer is still unseasonably moody which at least is good for my concentration.

Though I sometimes find The Economist to be a bit too hard on Italy, I cannot wait until the next issue to hear them report on this: while the rest of the world is bailing out financial institutions and car manufactures, Silvio Berlusconi has decided to spend 50 million euro of government funds on 100 000 wheels of parmigiano! Apparently, the global recession has meant a sharp drop in demand for Italian luxury cheese. This is especially hilarious since, for me, Parmigiano-Reggiano has become somewhat of a symbol of the inner struggles of liberalism (armchair left-liberals like myself, eating that particular cheese and worrying about global trends).

Just as with car manufactures I cannot see why tax money should be used to pay for this (the bank-bailout is a different story altogether since the very credibility of the monetary system was at stake). As I have argued before, recessions lend themselves to economic transformation, we should use this opportunity to purposefully build a smarter and greener society. And once growth returns, I am confident that demand for parmigiano will surge once more.

For more on the stupidity of the car-rescue I have to recommend the weblog of my friend PSW. It is good to have found him in the blogosphere. I certainly miss our heated debates back at the department in Lund during my first year of graduate studies, as few others he combines a razor-sharp intellect with the most perverse political views :-)