While Mr Bersani's narrow victory in the election guaranteed him an automatic majority in the lower house, he cannot govern without control of the Senate too.

BBC: Impasse as Italy's new parliament meets for first time

The benefits are many: lower costs, easy implementation, automatic upgrades.

FORBES: Will Leaders Embrace Talent in a Cloud?

She argued that they should allow "automatic stabilisers" -- higher welfare spending and lower tax revenues -- to kick in if the economy deteriorated.

CNN: Sch?uble and Lagarde clash over austerity