The Italian prime minister faces big protests against liberalisation

Berlusconi can declare what he wants - politically he is finished. We are merely waiting for elections to confine him to the dustbin of history.

Can we ask the author to avoid stereotypes of "violent" Italians? Our country is much less violent statistically than most other European countries. Nor do our demonstrations have a particular history of violence.
By now there is a fair body of evidence showing foreign support for the Red Brigades and other terrorist incidents of the 70's. Left to themselves the residents of the peninsula are hardly violent. These assessments are usually psychological projections of foreigners.
May I point out that the murder rate in Calabria - one of the worst regions for "mafia-type" violence, has over the years generally been one-tenth of the homicide rate in Detroit?

Reading the article and combing through the posts, all this doesn't sound very promising for investors.

How could a sane people from another country ever be willing to share Italy's fate by issuing 'common debt' obligations.

Eurobonds is an infinite commitment, while Italian politicians' promises last - at the utmost - 4 years . . . Monti's expire even earlier.

Having perused the comments on this page, it would appear that "English Language Classes for every Italian"(*) is another reform that should be prominently featured on Monti's reform agenda. (Though I think I remember them being on his predecessor's agenda as well...)

(*)Or, at least, for every Italian who feels the need to post in English.

Dear Sir, we are Americans who lived in your beautiful country for almost four years, not long enough. We too feel offended to read or hear comments about Italians that only show lack of respect for a nation that has given so much to the world. Too much Hollywood, I guess.

Can you imagine what the tax on gasoline would be if Italy had to pay for her crude imports with expensive foreign exchange . . . after she has returned to Lira?

I think you misunderstand a few things about Italy.

Our country does not really have a well-developed social welfare state, as in the rest of Europe. For example, there are no day-care centres for children to help working mothers. If university students win a (smallish) needs-based scholarship, they must first pay their own way - and the reimbursement comes 1-2 years later. What are in theory government-provided services are often impossible to access in real life.
The Catholic Church has always enforced an idea in Italy whereby the State should never substitute the family - which is the real welfare system. Those without families of some means to support them are automatically considered poor or second-class.

Yes, there are a group of "in" workers with low pay but generous benefits - government employees and those of a certain age working for large companies - but these people are a shrinking minority in any case.
And secondly, there is the scandal of excessively generous pensions to former government executives/politicians.

Monti is making not even the slightest attack on these privileged classes of Italians. Personally, I find it hard to justify a state pension of €10,000 monthly when so much is at risk...

The "masses" are not demanding here. They have been absolutely docile and sheep-like for 10 years in the face of declining living standards, ever-lower quality of services and excessive fines from authorities levied in the most arbitrary fashion.

The "masses" are hanging on by their fingernails - and mostly thinking of leaving the country: we are on the brink of another wave of mass emigration similar to those after world wars in the past. And the economy is stifled not just by the banks, but by several castes of professionals that Monti is not even dreaming to touch.

So - till now the only big demonstrations have been,

1) taxi drivers - (primarily in Rome and Milan). Yes, they are expensive (and clean and safe) in Italy - but I use them once a year only - I fail to see how they are "strangling" our economy.
And,
2) lorry drivers - furious over sharp new increases in tolls (perhaps €10 to drive 100km for an auto? For lorries I do not know how much more), ever higher corporate taxes (on a real basis, they are currently finding excuses to grab 70% of gross income - our firms are taxed both on gross profit and on net profit) and petrol prices that are now €1.75/litre ($9/US gallon).
On one hand, the lorry drivers' strike blocked most major motorway arteries in the country over the last several days; on the other hand, some 65% to 70% of the country is polled as being in favour of their strike.

Monti will have success and the austerity packages will be followed - because we have no choice. But the public demonstrations of anger are not about protecting entitlements - the "entitled" have other, more effective ways of protesting: i.e. lobbying our Senators/Deputies successfully in the capital. In the meantime the lower and middle classes are being squeezed for their last penny of savings.

I wrote recently on another blog:

I have serious doubts if the "universities of the Anglo-sphere" are, at the end of the day, so “great” after all.

Schools do not and should not exist as self-serving entities. They also have to act as a “resource stream” for a nation’s common wealth.

In order to “lure in” enough sponsors and students who are able to pay for their 'educational circus', they have to concentrate way too much on “image cultivation“ instead of providing the necessary resources our national economy really needs.

The hunt for ‘presentable awards’ has often become an end in itself, instead of a spring-board for our nation’s economic place in the world - the latter consequently defining our overall wealth and lasting prosperity.

Nations that channel their educational resources to increase their global competitiveness, fare generally better in creating ‘common wealth’ than our 'expensive' schools in the U.S. The latter is even true for institutes that produce Nobel Prize nominees.

Does the Swedish Academy systematically search for the “best” solution (or contribution) in a certain field globally?
The answer is a clear NO! - And it can’t, given the massive amount of publicized research that appears almost daily from tens of thousands of institutions in hundreds of different languages worldwide.

A nominee's contemporary reputation often owes as much to manipulation as to merit. In the English speaking world, with its free competitive educational markets, much depends on skill at promotion and self-advertisement. PR money spent by (Ivy League) Schools and special-interest groups can and does grease the slide.

How does work done in China, Germany or Japan compare? The specialized literature and research institutes there keep research result most of the time in their national language. Translations into English, if any, may be rare or fragmentary.

It cannot be doubted that the Swedish Academy acutely understands the difficulties involved in all this as well as anyone. But to have a resident specialist, say in Chinese and the like, will not help much.

Even in Japan or Germany, where the scrutiny and assessment of contemporary research is incessantly done by hundreds of experts, there is not the slightest guarantee that such effort is located by the Norwegian Nobel Committee . . . if it is not parallel published in English, the only publicized language (besides maybe Swedish and Norwegian) the Nobel Committee is guided by.

Does all this work to our advantage? - Surly to the advantage of our "Ivy League Schools" and ‘Anglo-sphere’ research institutes!

But does it also benefit our country as a whole?

I dare to say: Rather not!

While all Chinese, Russian, German, Japanese (and others) research specialists are able to read and understand our ‘intellectual products’ in full detail . . . we are locked out from theirs.

Can anything help? After more than a century of awarding prizes and decades of globalization, 'the Nobel' is still quite unadventurous in its move out to become truly world-spanning. Hopefully a certain ‘healthy’ realism will be setting in over here soon.

Now that the easy obtainable awards (from the English speaking world) have been made, perhaps the committee can be convinced to reorganize itself radically to cope with the “alien” swarming mass of research and scientific advances done in foreign languages and by so called “mediocre” foreign schools.

Perhaps it will redefine one day what it means to be “outstanding” on global scale.

Or perhaps the committee will just stand pat, and wait for arbitrary market forces to flush out such gems from the billions of chances that might bring the whole human race forward a step . . . or two.

"Silvio Berlusconi, declared that the cure devised by Mr Monti’s technocrats had not worked and that he and his ministers “expected to be recalled to occupy the government positions [they] had before”.

Who does still wonder why Germans react so allergic to Eurobonds? You can tell me what you like, fact is: The market pressure is the only guarantee that growth enhancing reforms and austerity measures are being implemented, no matter if Berlusconi returns or not. As long as the market pressure doesn't get out of controll, it is helping all of us.

Under the prevailing (dire) circumstances, Monti is doing the best he can, to appease the masses. But the demanding masses - steeped in ludicrous entitlements - need to see the writing on their country's decrepit financial wall & come to terms with the grim reality, imminently facing them. But will they??

As for Burlusconi's outlandish claims, even an oranguttang would know better! Eitherway, he should have been put out to pasture, years ago..

The "worst educational institutions in europe" graduated the two scientists who led the equipe that discovered the Higgs Boson.Having a British or US passport,they would have been awarded with the Nobel.

By quoting Detroit's homicide rate you show you are confusing political violence with other kinds of criminality, and this is blinding you to the fact that — whatever the situation in other countries — Italy does have a rather worrying tradition of specifically political thuggery, only too often condoned by those who should enforce the law. Actually, this is not new and is somehow encrusted into Italy's cultural history. Bertrand Russell was probably the first to notice long ago that the ideological violence of the Italian "squadristi" (the organised political thugs who brought Mussolini to power) had its roots in Mazzini's movement, which was in turn an offspring of the French revolutionary Jacobinism responsible for the Terror. But the very same roots were openly shared since the late nineteenth century by Italy's anarchists and revolutionary socialists, and eventually of course by its Marxists as well. And this, I am afraid, is still with very much with us, or at least too much so for comfort.

Open terrorism, thankfully enough not all that frequent, is not its only manifestation. But nowadays the blind chronic violence of such organisations as the "No Tav" movement (opposing new fast railway links) or the so-called Black Block (violent anti-capitalist activists) is regularly matched by the intimidations attempted by the young adepts of Casa Pound, a neo-fascist outfit. It's the habit of condoning such "idealistic" thuggery that has recently led to the ugly scenes of taxi drivers beating up their non-striking colleagues in defence of very petty economic privileges. Maybe we all had better promote the rule of law as a shared social value, rather than close our collective eyes on this inherited rot.

As anyone who lives (or often visits) Rome will tell you, protests and political rallies can and do turn violent with an alarming frequency in Italy, and even more often leave millions in property damages in their wake. Before decrying the alleged abuse of a stereotype we should ask ourselves if it correspond to the truth in the case at hand.

Zorzon, if there were a painless way to leave Italy, those of us in Friuli-Venezia Giulia would gladly follow Venice into independence at this point.
But Umberto Bossi is insane. There is no independence that can be obtained by letting Italy go into bankruptcy. Far better to evolve and devolve.
When the Liga Veneta and then the Lega Nord exploded on the national scene in 1993, we northern Italians were amongst the richest areas of Europe (and the world). Twenty years of the Lega experience, including the last three with the Lega in government, has left us behind even the Czech Republic and (western) Slovakia.

Bossi has outlived his usefulness in the Italian political scene - while policies in recent years have actually REVERSED the trend toward decentralisation. The ICI helped our comuni; now the IMU will be strongly centralist.

I repeat, no foreign state or foreign bank will recognise or lend money to a future northern Italian state which does not honour all debts; nor are foreign creditors interested in seeing the State-interlocutor break up.
Bossi is neither Garibaldi nor Washington nor De Gaulle nor Alberto da Giussano. He is an incompetent version of Yasser Arafat.

In Italy , Monti is now referred to as - Rigor Montis

the living dead, unable to move, unable to govern, unable to gather support. Living on borrowed time.

I feel sorry for what Italy has become, a centralised caste class governed by politicians who never leave politics , a nation without the people's vote.

Bring back the old times, when each region looked after their own needs, bringing the world the renaissance, arts, sciences etc etc

It seems napolitano wants Monti to stay until the true elections of 2013 would have taken place. Can Italy survive till then?

Iron Monti??? Headlines might catch a few readers but this hardly reflects the reality: Monti's 'reforms' are essentially administrative changes and NOT liberlisations. You may now renew your expired id card on your birthday (sic!), when you notify your council of a change of address it takes effect on the day of notification rather than 8 weeks later after exhaustive inquiries and a local police officer knocks on your door to confirm you live there and that the house is effectively used as an abode. But if you happen to be a british subject you still need a council certification that confirms you are a European citizen. With regards to youth employment the Monti government has instituted an office of tourism and low cost travel in each and every Local Chamber of Commerce in Italy. Yet more public sector employment. Incidentally Local Chambers of Commerce do absolutely nothing except charge every small business €370,00 per annum for the privilege of having it registered. THIS OF COURSE SUBSIDISES YET MORE USELESS PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYEES AND EXECUTIVE SALARIES. So these are the 'reforms' that have changed Italy beyond recognition. I shan't comment on the taxi drivers, chemists and acountants lobbies as these are on the verge of being rather tragically comic. Or the fact that in Italy the purchase of a car still requires you to be orinarily resident and registerd in Italy.
Interestingly The Legal Value of University degrees and diplomas, the cause of the worst educational institutions in Europe, the introduction of the larger Band Width, and the abolition of government advertising (70 million euros)on italian newspapers have not been implemented.
Calling Monti the Iron Monti is not only inaccurate but a blatant insult on an historical figure who really was 'the Iron Lady, the reformer we all remember', fondly!

Monti will do what for years no one has been able to do in Italy: no strike or protest will prevent him from applying his pack of reforms, and Italy will go back to the decency and success of her "golden ages". The question is whether the costs of this whole process of necessary reforms will be also fairly distributed amongst Italians.
In order to understand the current Italian poltics, one has to consider that no party in Italy has ever been non-selfish enough to give up the votes deriving from blind short-term orientated propaganda. Whereas now, the most Monti will actualise unpopular decisions, the most he will be supported by the parties: they won't miss the chance to let someone else do the dirty job. But maybe, this typical selfishness of old parties and ministers, will prevent them from realising that wisdom will prevail and Italians will eventually prefer this painful and useful sacrifices than those even more painful ones deriving from corruption and bad politics.

So, Monti will fix the county, he will not do so through fair means, but there is still hope that fairness will arrive at the end of the whole process.

Berlusconi is an old clown, his present state is somewhat pathetic - he can say what he wants, it's just the grumbling of an old clown - the limelight has gone out now.

That's why they live and work in Switzerland. Not to speak the Us or Uk.
Individual excellence does not necessarily equate with institutional excellence. May I remind you that Bocconi University doesn't appear among the first 200 universities in the world.
In order to qualify for the Nobel prize the Higgs Bosom needs to be confirmed scientifically beyond 'reasonable doubt'. I did say precisely 'institutions' NOT individuals. But then that's the problem in Italy individual excellence never equates with institutional excellence it's the total absence of what Gramsci called 'l'intelletuale organico'.

I have my own opinions on this issue. I think the problem is not that our political history has a certain strain of violence, as you do.

I believe our country has simply been "over-politicised". Since politics is mostly about religion in the country of the Vatican (and therefore much more omnipresent and personal than the political battle in other countries - look at how high membership in the parties remains for years in Italy) we have lived in a country where political affiliation has invaded every aspect of one's life.

To repeat, I do not see that our politics is violent. The problem is that our violence - like everything else here - is made political. What is "strange" here is that every common criminal wants to invent some "political" pretext for their behaviour. The Red Brigades were not political leftists, nor the deviant secret service that effected their own violence political rightists.
They were merely criminals who chose one side or the other "to cover" for them. Then of course, when the crimes are politicised, they became unpunishable. Instead of establishing purely INDIVIDUAL responsibility for crimes, they became the crimes of the "Communists" against the "Fascists" or whatever.

Monti will do what no one has ever been able to do for years in Italy: no strike or protest will prevent him from applying his pack of reforms, and Italy will re-discover the decency and success of her "golden ages". The question is whether the costs of these necessary reforms will be fairly distributed amongst Italians. Well, it depends? No party or political leader in Italy has ever been non-selfish enough to give up the good votes deriving from blind short-term orientated propaganda. But now, the more Monti will actualise unpopular decisions, the more he will be supported by the parties: they won't miss the chance to let someone else do the dirty job. Though maybe, the typical selfishness of old parties and ministers, will prevent them from realising that wisdom might prevail and Italians will eventually prefer painful-useful sacrifices than even more painful ones deriving from corruption and bad politics.

So, Monti will fix the county, he will not do so through fair means, but there is still hope that fairness will arrive at the end of the whole process.
(I re-posted it without grammar mistakes)