After Greece’s market plummeted, Americans back at home also felt the fall, especially through the volatile stock markets.

Italy, however, is the new focus of the ongoing European debt crisis. Greece’s economic troubles have had a big impact on the US, but Italy’s impact could be seismic.

Italy holds the position of the seventh largest economy in the world, with Greece not too far behind at thirty-second. Greece sees to $305 billion in economic activity each year, while Italy ranks in with $2 billion.

In other words, Greece had a major impact on the US, but Italy could cause an even bigger problem?

Many people wonder, how did Italy get into this mess? A main cause: the great benefits that Italians are entitled to.

For example, Italians aren’t allowed to work more than 48 hours a week and can retire with a full state pension when they turn 52, or when they work for 35 years. They get at least four weeks of paid vacation and get 6 months of maternity leave, while the US Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 mandates only 12 weeks of job-protected leave.

ABC News reports that meanwhile, Italy has been consistently borrowing to keep up with the cost of these benefits and it is getting to the point where the people are not sure if they can pay it back. They borrowed extensively from other countries in Europe, which could also be brought down by their economic issues.

The US has many business exchanges with Europe, and if Europe is brought down with Italy, the US could be as well.

With the ongoing crisis in Italy, their Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi resigned on November 16. World leaders continue to meet to prevent any economic collapse. With many countries, not just Italy, in great debt, many wonder when this