But it is not particularly true of his big opponents -- including the left-wing Democratic Party, which has its own scandals, its own selfish interests and, during the election campaign, its own evidence of the abuse of political power in the case of Italy's third-largest (and oldest) bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, whose business was allegedly run and distorted in the interests of local Democratic Party politicians in that area.

CNN: , Special to

M3, its favoured measure of money supply, are incorrect: distorted, it says, by short-term euro-denominated debt held by investors outside the euro area.

ECONOMIST: The ECB is pragmatic, after all