Round two

After winning a vote of confidence, Silvio Berlusconi is clinging to power in Italy. We look at media comment on this, as well as on BP, which faces a legal battle in the US for damages caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Italian nerves

Italy needs a new government that is bold and credible enough to undo the damage of the Berlusconi era, writes The New York Times.

... Investors are nervous about Italy. It is not Greece or Ireland; its deficits are manageable and much of its debt domestically held. But even before the financial crisis, Italy’s growth rates lagged behind those of its European peers, sunk by pervasive corruption and burdensome bureaucracy at every level of government. It needs a credible government that can ask for tough sacrifices at home, patience from creditors abroad and support from other European governments. ...

Showing teeth

The US Department of Justice has launched a civil lawsuit against BP and eight of its partner companies for damage caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The US government is also conducting a criminal investigation into the crisis. Britain can learn from this, writes The Guardian.

... The US has the reputation for free-market zealotry, but when a BP or a Lehman Brothers screws up at public expense repercussions are quick — and dramatic. There are congressional hearings, big legal investigations. Compare that to the treatment by the financial services authority of the disgraced high-street bank RBS. Here we have one of the most spectacular corporate collapses in history, one that requires a lot of money from the taxpayer — yet Adair Turner [chairman of the Financial Services Authority] has yet to publish his inquiry into the debacle for confidentiality reasons. ... Our regulators should not be on such cosy terms with their subjects.