I think there's a misunderstanding here. Monti's declaration is more a tongue in cheek retort to his friends and colleagues that criticize him. Alberto Alesina and Francesco Giavazzi are more an inner circle or informal club of academics of which Monti is member. This of course does not belittle their contribution to the debate (whether we agree or not- or are even all that interested), they simply aren't the poteri forti that most of us automatically assume to be.

As in all complex situations it would be better to define the premises of one's arguments. If we are to consider the internal political impact of Monti's tenure, he and his government have very much shaken up the desolate situation Italy had driven itself into through rampant corruption, sheer greed, favouritism and political improvisation. He has the balls and guts Prodi- who preferred preaching to piranhas- never had and hasn't the slightest problem of dismissing Berlusconi's vociferous posturing when need be. We are in a "Machiavellian" situation in which all the parties are in a no-win situation. They all have everything to loss by withdrawing support of the government- and hope to garner token gains by staying in the coalition.

What we are witnessing is a conflict between Italian elites. On one hand an incompetent subversive and corrupt elite that dominated the political landscape for 17 years, in coalition with an irresponsible elite (the ignavi of Dante memory) that sought its own conveniences, while a traditional civic and entrepreneurial elite was excluded. In this optic we can see Monti as representing the latter's interests which is frankly the only elite that should be allowed to fence in the political arena. The subversive elite, represented by the Berlusconi-Gelli-Previti triumvirate, is presently on the defensive and held under heel as part of the coalition, while the middle elite wasteground is what it is, quaquaraqua.

The citizen is excluded from these events- leave aside vapid rhetoric to the contrary- by constitutional and normative frameworks, just as in all contemporary democratic regimes. And it is the citizen who is shackled with the enormous sacrifices forced upon it by a transnational irresponsible elite. But that, I would like to stress, is another argument, often affronted on this site.

By the way, the Corriere is not Italy's leading newspaper. In numbers it has long since been surpassed by la Repubblica. In order to find something half decent to read in the Corriere it's the norm to tear off the first page.