Mario Monti cleaning up Italy

Italy's head of government Mario Monti announced to representatives of the financial sector that he would revoke the privileges of the so-called Salotto Buono, Italy's exclusive corporate elite of powerful bankers and industrialists. The liberal daily La Stampa praises the prime minister's objective and equitable approach: "This time Mario Monti is taking on the heavyweights of the financial world, not the trade unions. … In doing so he has acquitted himself of accusations that he protects the privileged. Even his blunt choice of words demonstrates the radical shift in thinking, for the term 'Salotto Buono' has negative connotations in everyday usage. And the openness with which the prime minister announced that individuals would be banned from holding more than one post on supervisory boards at the same time was likewise surprising. This certainly won't go down well with precisely the powerful people of the financial world to whom he refers. He has made it clear that he will no longer play their game."

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