Finché dura
In its short life as a nation Italy has already rebuilt itself several times. For the past few decades, though, it has been living on the afterglow of an economic miracle that came to an end in the 1970s. It could continue like this more or less indefinitely, steadily growing poorer and older but still managing quite comfortably. For the moment this seems the most likely thing to happen. But the country is overdue another reawakening like the one that led to unification 150 years ago.
The Economist.