 |  | | Italy's Political Class |  ON Sunday (April 28) a new government was formed in Italy. Led by Enrico Letta, a moderate member of the Partito Democratico (PD), it is the first ‘grand coalition' the country has seen since the signing of the postwar constitution in 1947. Commentators have already pointed to other firsts: the youngest cabinet in Italian history (average age 53); that with the highest proportion of female ministers (a third); and the first black minister (Cecile Kyenge, the minister for integration). Yet despite the veneer of novelty, Lampedusa's dictum from The Leopard still sums up Italy's predicament ... |
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| |  | | The Story Of Our Time |  THOSE of us who have spent years arguing against premature fiscal austerity have just had a good two weeks. Academic studies that supposedly justified austerity have lost credibility; hard-liners in the European Commission and elsewhere have softened their rhetoric. The tone of the conversation has definitely changed. My sense, however, is that many people still don't understand what this is all about. So this seems like a good time to offer a sort of refresher on the nature of our economic woes, and why this remains a very bad time for spending cuts ... |
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