Less God, more machine. The bond markets’ hopes that a deus ex machina could durably bestride the Roman stage have been comprehensively dashed. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti will resign shortly. And his predecessor Silvio Berlusconi is poised, in the best traditions of burlesque English Christmas pantomime, for an attempted comeback that — whether it succeeds or fails — promises to be spectacular and disruptive. Berlusconi’s chances of a fourth prime ministerial term after elections possibly as early as February look slim. The center-left Democratic party headed by former communist Pier Luigi Bersani, is placed ... (full story)