Muddle in the middle

Italy’s is ramshackle and Germany’s is grand, but the two coalition governments have something important in common when it comes to economic policy- near paralysis. And things are likely to get worse before they get better. It’s not that coalition governments never work. For most of the last 60 years, multi-party cabinets in Continental Europe have usually been able to combine political calm with economic growth. Governments have made the necessary but unpopular decisions, in large part because ...