Reuters: Italy must take more steps to lower debt - Merkel (Friday Jul 22, 2011)

Italy will have to take further steps to lower its public debt, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday, adding that Rome's austerity programme was good. "Italy's austerity programme was absolutely good. But it will be a process and demands further steps in the future," Merkel told a news conference.

And, on cue, the markets reacted sending Italian and Spanish debt spreads on a tailspin again.

"The summit agreement from yesterday lowered the risk of contagion," she added.

And we couldn't have that, could we, Angie?

Economics is politics by other means