Italy now looks as unsettled and decrepit as Britain did when Margaret Thatcher assumed power 24 years ago. Fiat wallows in crisis; university rectors resign en mass; judges attend the opening session of the judicial year carrying copies of the constitution as a warning to the government. When he returned to power, Silvio Berlusconi promised bold Thatcherite reforms to set things right. His reforms, however, have been few and insipid, aimed mostly at benefiting himself, says Ferdinando Targetti.
Italy now looks as unsettled and decrepit as Britain did when Margaret Thatcher assumed power 24 years ago. Fiat wallows in crisis; university rectors resign en mass; judges attend the opening session of the judicial year carrying copies of the constitution as a warning to the government. When he returned to power, Silvio Berlusconi promised bold Thatcherite reforms to set things right. His reforms, however, have been few and insipid, aimed mostly at benefiting himself, says Ferdinando Targetti.