[random_kris]

Well the northern European will blame southern for not being frugal enough.

But this is the same as drug dealer saying their dead customer was not responsible enough. Yeah it true, but some people just are not responsible for their own actions and the dealer was happily benefiting all the time from him

[dmichulke]

Well, this!

Except that the dead customer still owes 590 billion to (mostly) the drug dealer mentioned above and won't be able to pay it.

And the goods delivered were not drugs but things that usually don't alter your way of thinking (like cars, machines, ...), even less if we're talking about a group of people (like the government or a country of 60mn people)

Oh and there was also trading (i.e. delivering goods back), so Italy is not only consumer but also producer.

[rich_sasha]

When dealing with the public, sure I agree. But not at all when dealing with (supposedly) professional bodies such as national governments, I don't buy it.

I'm not pointing the "overspending" finger either, just saying, countries should take responsibility for their actions, not complain at the enablers.

[QuarterReptile]

I don't know much about Italian government, but unless there's some fundamental difference between them and the US, I don't see any chance of a government showing restraint and staying in power, when the other guys could deliver prosperity without the bill coming due for 10+ years.

What am I missing?