It is churlish to deny that the two Marios have pulled off a feat of statecraft. They have wrested control of the ECB from Gold Standard zealots.

The ECB is preparing to act as a genuine lender-of-last-resort for the first time, once the EFSF trigger is activated. It may soon start to reverse the frightening monetary contraction that has bedevilled southern Europe for the last year.

Europe remains a political minefield, but the risk of a global deflationary slump has dropped a notch. Hats off to the Italians.

Related article: Greek-eurozone financial crisis