L'Economist dedica l'ennesima copertina a Berlusconi, "l'uomo che ha fregato un intero Paese", e pubblica uno speciale di quattordici pagine sullo stato (e le prospettive) dell'economia italiana (qui un estratto). Al di là di numeri e grafici, la situazione si può riassumere con poche righe contenute nell'articolo sul premier:
Italy’s economic illness is not the acute sort, but a chronic disease that slowly gnaws away at vitality. When Europe’s economies shrink, Italy’s shrinks more; when they grow, it grows less. As our special report in this week’s issue points out, only Zimbabwe and Haiti had lower GDP growth than Italy in the decade to 2010. In fact GDP per head in Italy actually fell. Lack of growth means that, despite Mr Tremonti, the public debt is still 120% of GDP, the rich world’s third-biggest. This is all the more worrying given the rapid ageing of Italy’s population.
