A little more about Craxi...

    Bettino Craxi, born in Feb 24 1935 in Milan, was an Italian politician who became Italy's first Socialist prime minister. He joined the Socialist Youth Movement in his late teens and became a member of the Italian Socialist Party's (PSI) central committee in 1957. In 1960, he won a seat on the city council of Milan and in 1968, was elected to a seat in the national Chamber of Deputies. He became the deputy secretary of the Socialist Party in 1970.

    After the Socialists performed badly in the 1976 general elections, Craxi became the party's general secretary. He proceeded to unite the faction-ridden party, committed it to moderate social and economic policies, and tried to dissociate it from the much larger Communist Party. In addition, Craxi used the Socialists' role in coalition building to give the party a voice that was greater than its electoral weight.

    Craxi continued to be an important force within the Italian government as the Secretary of the Central Committee. His power started to shift in the early 1980s because the European Recession was ending and Italy was about to experience another economic boom, in addition to reports of scandals within the Christian Democratic Party (DC), which was the main majority of the coalition government. Those scandals led to the constant loss of support for the DC and was creating a power vacuum for the PSI and in particular,  for Craxi.

   In 1983 general elections, the DC lost the Prime Premiership to the PSI and Craxi. He formed a coalition government with the DC and several small, moderate parties. As the prime minister, Craxi pursued anti-inflationary fiscal policies and was pro-American in his policies in foreign affairs. His policies were a success, as inflation in Italy dropped from 20% in 1980 to 6% 1986, while Italian exports to the U.S. increased to a record 46% and the economy as a whole increased by 2.8%. (However, the economies of the other European nations were showing similar trends so it's really up to you to believe if whether Craxi was responsible for Italy's economic boom.)

   Success? Maybe. But as they always say: This is only the beginning...

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