However bad the economic crisis in southern Europe may be for investors, it is proving lethal for the area's political leaders. In March Jose Socrates, Portugal's beleaguered prime minister, resigned. Soon afterwards his Spanish counterpart, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, announced his intention to step down. In June George Papandreou, Greece's prime minister, came close to ejection during a fierce debate over an austerity package.So as he stood up to make the first of two eagerly awaited speeches to parliament on August 3rd, Italy's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, may have had an uneasy feeling he was one in a line of dominoes. If so, there was nothing in the style or content of his address to suggest it. Nor was there much to indicate that he appreciated the magnitude of the crisis facing the euro or the case for drastic action to tackle it.
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机译：南欧的经济危机对投资者可能有多严重，但事实证明该地区的政治领导人具有致命性。 3月，饱受葡萄牙困扰的总理何塞·苏格拉底（Jose Socrates）辞职。不久之后，他的西班牙同行Jose Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero宣布辞职。 6月，希腊总理乔治·帕潘德里欧（George Papandreou）在紧缩方案的激烈辩论中接近退位。因此，当他站起来在8月3日向议会发表的两场热切期待的演讲中的第一场讲话时，意大利总理西尔维奥·贝卢斯科尼（Silvio Berlusconi）可能感到不安，他是多米诺骨牌中的一员。如果是这样，他的住址没有任何风格或内容可以暗示。也没有太多迹象表明他赞赏欧元所面临的危机的严重性或采取严厉行动解决欧元危机的理由。
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