4 January 2012 Last updated at 18:39 GMT

The Italian crisis
Addio, Silvio
Market panic has erupted as Silvio Berlusconi prepares to step down from government. We assess the impact of his going—first, on Italy’s politics
Nov 12th 2011 | ROME | from the print edition






AS IN many an opera, the wounded hero took an unconscionable time to die. But on November 8th Silvio Berlusconi, who had been haemorrhaging support for months, went to see Italy’s president, Giorgio Napolitano, and promised to resign. The final knife-thrust was the loss of his majority in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of parliament, in a crucial vote on the re-submitted 2010 public accounts. Even if elections are held soon, Mr Berlusconi says he will not be running. He now feels "liberated”.

The European Central Bank
Ready for the ruck?
Taking over the European Central Bank puts Mario Draghi in a position as perilous as Europe’s
Oct 22nd 2011 | from the print edition · · AT THE end of October, after eight years in the top job, Jean-Claude Trichet will pass the presidency of the European Central Bank (ECB) to Mario Draghi. Italy’s leading central banker thus takes his place in the front row of the fight to push back the euro crisis, bearing

Libya’s liberation
The colonel is caught
The demise of Muammar Qaddafi will give new life to the Arab revolution
Oct 22nd 2011 | from the print edition · · FORTY-TWO years after he took power in a coup as a handsome 27-year-old captain, Africa’s longest-serving dictator was finally brought to bay on October 20th

Hard times Oct 25th 2011, 14:33 by The Economist online How the economic slowdown has changed consumer spending in America AMERICANS are spending less on clothes and eating out and more on household fuel bills and healthcare, according to data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics. Between 2007