Gain shall take the place of loss

Random recessional signs:

• An article in the Monday morning paper citing a study that says it will take eighteen quarters ( yes 4 1/2 years ) for the UK economy to return to the levels of wealth recorded in mid-2008.By contrast Germany is expected to recover with sixteen quarters.
• Italian roads are full of Dacia's. These robust Romanian manufactured Renault's may have the design of an ungainly hearse but are aggressively priced to go. Today's WSJ notes that Romanian car sales fell by 50% in November and that the factory which initially closed for three weeks is now to stay closed until January 11th.
• The local village is home to a wonderful fresh pasta shop. We try to use it as much as possible, but there is a limit to how much pasta we can eat without adding on more and more inches to the waistline. The owners wife pointed out that orders are down as the local restaurants are now cutting costs by making their own and households are saving money by buying dried pasta in packets. To raise casflow they are now offering 10% discounts on Christmas orders placed before this weekend. A New Year resolution is to visit the fresh pasta shop at least three times a week and to actively proselytize our neighbours to do the same- the existence of these small family food firms is one of the main reasons that foreigners come to Italy and their disappearance would be a culinary blow.