ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors describe the news relating to Italy, as well as the selection criteria used and a running history to clarify the choice of events included in the database and their classification. The Italian quantitative macroeconomic news has been gathered following the indications provided by the economic literature and, where relevant, traders' opinions as expressed in the specialized press and in direct interviews. The type of political events gathered is quite specific to the Berlusconi, Dini and Prodi Government. The Dini Government operates in a climate of heightened political and financial turmoil; the latter partly induced by the strong devaluation of the Dollar in the first half of the year. The authors aim to gather the political events of this period under three categories: action of the Dini Government, with some clearly recognizable phases, controversies over the administration of justice and the actions of Minister of Justice Mancuso and the schism within the Partito Popolare Italiano.
