Berlusconi Was Ousted For Genuinely Threatening to Leave Euro

``Mr Bini-Smaghi -- until recently on the ECB's six-man executive council, and for many years Italy's man in Frankfurt -- states that Silvio Berlusconi was toppled as Italian premier in November 2011 as soon as he began to rattle the EMU cage in earnest. Specifically, he discussed (threatened?) Italian withdrawal from the euro in private meetings with other EMU governments, presumably with Chancellor Angela Merkel and France's Nicolas Sarkozy, since he does not negotiate with underlings.... We have long suspected this. Now it is confirmed.''