Fiddling while Italian banks burn

Silvio Berlusconi’s attempt to separate Italy from the rest of the financial world hasn’t worked. Italian bank shares are still plunging. True, its lending culture has been conservative compared with eurozone peers. But Italy is still integrated into global financial markets. Now, Rome’s failure to act decisively – unlike other European governments – to shore up confidence means Italy could damage its economy. It all started so well. At the start of the credit crunch Berlusconi could justifiably...