Indeed, it is membership of the euro that has made Italy's public-debt burden bearable by cutting its servicing costs sharply.
The prognosis was based in part on fears about the public-debt burden that northern countries might have to assume if bail-outs spread.
It would not take much of a deterioration in the country's budget position, for instance, to make Brazil's large public-debt burden unsustainable.
In a week when Greece and Spain both saw their credit ratings under attack (see article), the budget at least gave the government an opportunity to reassure international investors that Ireland, unlike some other EU countries, is serious about controlling its budget deficit and public-debt burden.
First, they like Italy's emergency 30bn euro package of tax increases, spending cuts and pension reforms - which raises hopes that the government of technocrats under Mario Monti may start to whittle away the Italian public sector's massive debt burden.
With Brazil's tax burden and public debt already too high, the only sensible ways to fill the holes in its social safety net are economic growth (which now seems to be resuming) and a redistribution of existing spending towards those who most need it.
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To the extent that outstanding Treasury debt is purchased by the Fed, the burden of interest payments on the public debt is reduced almost proportionally.
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The credit crunch has shifted the burden of servicing that debt from the private to the public sector.
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Both countries will still be heavily indebted, and the burden of servicing that debt will be a big drag on their public finances.
Or to put it another way, the official view is that Italy is intrinsically capable of repaying all it owes, that it is capable of recalibrating the balance between public sector and private sector in a way that over time will allow the burden of debt to fall.
His public protest made headlines and touched a nerve with many Greeks bearing the burden of a worsening debt crisis.
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