Fiddling while Rome burns

There have already been more than 1,000 amendments to Italy's budget, and it is not over yet. The Government seems to have given in on something like €4bn so far.

Berlusconi is a politician - as I said in the previous post on the subject, if there were a public clamour for austerity he would provide it. But there isn't.

Italy now desperately needs a respected figure to persuade the Italians that all this is necessary. The next election will be too late. The only figure I can think of is Montezemolo. But Italy needs someone and now.