A handful of European nations are shifting to the political right as economic woes throttle the continent.
"All eyes are on Rome right now," an EU official recently told Reuters. Italy is just hours from what is expected to be a historic election on Sunday as voters head to the polls to elect a new parliament and determine who will govern the country next.
Polls forecast the country’s right-wing Brothers of Italy Party will take 25% of the vote on Sunday, and elect party leader Giorgia Meloni as the country’s first female prime minister. Meloni is a right-wing candidate who has denounced cancel culture, vowed to curb illegal immigration, and has campaigned on lowering taxes and overhauling the welfare system.
Italy is the most recent country in Europe on track to take a shift toward the right, following Sweden and the U.K.
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Europe has been throttled by economic woes as countries brace for a continued energy crisis over the winter months and forecasters warn a recession will hit Europe hard.
"Given the downward risks and the high degree of uncertainty, everything is pushing toward a contraction in economic activity in the eurozone over the coming quarters," economists at Franco-German financial services company ODDO BHF warned, according to Reuters.
Inflation reached record highs in nations that use the euro, at 9.1 % in August 2022, which is the highest level since such data was first recorded in 1997. Eurozone inflation has largely been driven by an energy and gas crisis stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ahead of Liz Truss becoming the United Kingdom’s prime minister this month, the Conservative Party leader touted supply-side economics to help grow the nation’s stagnant economy.
"The economic debate for the past 20 years has been dominated by discussions about distribution," Truss said in an interview with BBC television this month
"But what's happened is we had relatively low growth so we've had no more than an average of 1% growth and that has been holding our country back."
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She has since ushered in a return of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s policy of supply-side economics, slashing taxes with the goal to boost production. She has since defended the move, arguing she’s willing to be unpopular in order to revitalize the economy.
"I don’t accept this argument that cutting taxes is somehow unfair," she told Sky News.
"What we know is people on higher incomes generally pay more tax so when you reduce taxes there is often a disproportionate benefit because those people are paying more taxes in the first place," she added.