Italians want a comeback, not decline
Italians want a comeback, not decline La commedia è finita, the farce is over. La commedia è finita, the farce is over. When the curtain came down on Silvio Berlusconi’s era as prime minister, I seemed to hear the collective sigh of relief of hundreds of millions of Europeans. We Italians may be emotional, but we are not stupid. In an emergency, we didn’t laugh it out with Silvio; we rushed to the emergency room of doctor Mario Monti. We are also realistic. We know that this is not enough. A new government does not guarantee that a bail-out, if needed, will be forthcoming, let alone that it would succeed. Italy’s refinancing needs are huge: according to Bloomberg, about €200bn of bonds maturing next year and more than €100bn of bills, a sum that would virtually exhaust the eurozone’s rescue fund. The crowds may burst into choruses of “Hallelujah!” outside the Quirinale Palace in Rome, but they know it was not Italian voters and public opinion that dismissed Mr Berlusconi. The financ...