The Italian Crisis

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi resigned this pass Saturday after the parliament's lower chamber passed demand reforms - ending his 17-year political era. His recent controversy regarding sex scandals, corruption trials and misuse of political power marred his popularity. This marks the beginning of a transition, and of new hope - from the once scandalous government with its heels in debt to (hopefully) a prosperous and reborn nation. It was seen through the Italian people as they chanted "resign, resign, resign" outside the Prime Minister's office.

From this letdown however, rose a new sense of hope. Mario Monti has now taken command. Graduating with a degree in economics from Yale he was appointed as the EU commissioner for internal market and services in 1994. His second term in the commission (1999-2004), as a BBC article states, earned him the nickname "Super Mario" for the way he took on vested interests. PM Monti is "covinced" the country can overcome its crisis, as he will meet with President Giorgio Napolitano tomorrow to present his new government.

The new Prime Minister of Italy and former EU commissioner, Mario Monti.

Nonetheless, although people remain optimistic - the Italians have their feet tied. Italy is under intense pressure  and a sense of urgency to quickly resolve its crisis. However, this will require more painful reforms as they deal with debt that stands at $2.6 trillion, 120% of their economic output. With the announcement of Monti taking control, the yield on the Italian 10-year bonds fell to 6.48% on Friday, safely under the crisis level of 7% it had reached earlier that week. But, it has now reached that level again today. The level that had forced Greece, Portugal and Ireland to seek EU bailouts.

Over the weekend, the parliament passed a package of austerity measures which aims to balance the budget by 2014, foreseeing 59.8 billion euros in savings.