Too much is being expected of Mario Draghi

ITALIAN POLITICSEU has a saviour complex. In the 16th century, Machiavelli despaired that “Italy remains without life and awaits the man…who is to heal her wounds.” In the modern era, redemption has taken peculiar forms. It once bore the appearance of Silvio Berlusconi, a cruise-ship-singer-turned-media-mogul who promised to upend politics and instead ended up repeatedly in court. A few years later came Matteo Renzi, a young reformer who over-promised, under-delivered and then imploded. Now salvation has appeared in the shape of Mario Draghi, a celebrated former president of the European Central Bank, who became prime minister in February. One Italian politician compared him to Christ.Where once this saviour complex was an Italian affliction, the rise of Mr Draghi has turned it into a European one. A decision by Mr Draghi’s government to block vaccine exports by AstraZeneca was applauded as a muscular approach to a company that had defied the . When Ursula von der Leyen, the first female president of the European Commission, was banished to a sofa during a meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mr Draghi labelled the Turkish president a “dictator”. Buyers of Italian bonds, a pernickety focus group, have sent yields on Italian debt tumbling. Diplomats rejoice at the arrival of someone in Rome with whom they can do business. Glowing portraits of Mr Draghi appear in the international press. A new saviour had arrived, this time for all of Europe.