Ok, so why should anyone be surprised that the Italian political landscape is once again under pressure? After all, since WWII they’ve had over 60 different governments in some form or another.
For many years it didn’t seem to matter that much to us outsiders, and indeed traders. It was just what happened and we largely took it for granted.
But times have changed. Italy is the third largest country in the Eurozone. It has debts of EUR 2 trln and is the world’s third largest bond market. Italy is too big to be bailed out and it’s continual struggle to get out of of the longest recession in post-war history, not to mention it’s political unrest, remains front-page news.
Here the BBC’s European editor Gavin Hewitt looks at the impact of Berlusconi’s final throw of the dice and the difficulties now facing PM Letta.
