Fiscal tightening and reform can rescue Italy’s economy

Commentary feature which concludes: 'If Italy were not in the eurozone, the country would surely now choose another devaluation. That opportunity has gone. The economic and political costs of regaining it would, in my view, also be suicidally high. What the country needs, instead, is a strong government that pursues reform and fiscal retrenchment with gusto. What it has is a fractured polity and a weak government. Unfortunately, the fractures reflect those among Italians themselves. That, not its economic position, is Italy's true handicap'.