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Opinion
Rachel Sanderson

If Italy Fails, Then Europe Fails Too

Mario Draghi needs to channel Italy's postwar reconstruction as he implements a massive spending plan and tries to reform his country. 

Planning the old one-two.

Planning the old one-two.

Photographer: GREGORIO BORGIA/AFP

Italy’s parliament has approved Mario Draghi’s 261 billion-euro ($315 billion) spending plan to resurrect the euro zone’s third-largest economy from the ruins of the pandemic. Now comes the hard part: Implementing the tough structural reforms Italy needs to drive growth and rebalance public accounts, and convincing Italians it’s the right path.

Failure to do so would consign Italy to decline and blight the European Union’s plans for further fiscal integration.