PRESS RELEASE
LaRouche in Dialogue with Italian Political Leaders at Forum in Rome
June 6, 2007 (EIRNS)—American Democratic leader and economist Lyndon LaRouche engaged in a high-level public discussion today in Rome with Deputy Finance Minister Alfonso Gianni, and Giulio Tremonti, former Finance Minister and current vice chairman of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, on the theme: "The Future of the Economy: Market Radicalism or New Deal?" All speakers addressed the current strategic and economic crisis and offered proposals for a solution, sometimes converging and sometimes differing, but all agreeing on the necessity to rebuild the world physical economy.
LaRouche introduced his concept on how to reorganize the collapsing world monetary and financial system and set up a regulated credit system to finance Eurasian development, a system of cooperation centered on large-scale infrastructure projects. This perspective received a recent boost from the project to build the Bering Strait Tunnel, supported by the Russian government and discussed by LaRouche with relevant Russian figures in Moscow. My task, LaRouche said, is to promote an agreement among four powers—the United States, Russia, China and India—to initiate a general agreement among world nations on this.
Gianni expressed his agreement with LaRouche on the need for a new financial system: He stressed saving the welfare state from the assault of hedge funds, and introducing labor rights to a larger number of nations in order to promote fair economic competition. He said that a reviewed Keynesian approach could be considered to relaunch investments in the physical economy.
Tremonti noted that his high consideration of LaRouche's thinking, dates to when he read LaRouche's proposals for global infrastructure development for the first time, an impression which has been confirmed by the depth of LaRouche's intervention. It is rare to hear a politician locate his ideas in history, Tremonti said—and maybe his view is "crazy," but history often moves forward based on such "crazy" views.
Tremonti recalled that when, as government representative when Italy held the rotating presidency of the European Union, he proposed a large plan for infrastructure development, he met more mental than political obstacles. European leaders proved incapable of embracing a new view, prisoners of a budget-balancing policy which ignores, he said, the historical fact that the United States was built as nation by Alexander Hamilton, through creation of credit for the development of infrastructure and manufactures.
LaRouche spoke on June 5 to the Defense Committee of the Italian Senate; he is very widely known throughout official Italy as the author of the New Bretton Woods policy for an international reorganization of the bankrupt IMF monetary system. Italy's Chamber of Deputies has twice voted for LaRouche's New Bretton Woods approach.
