Renzi, Roman tribune IN THE rare moments of reflection his frenetic schedule allows him, Italy’s new prime minister, Matteo Renzi, will admit he is confident of a good start, but less certain how it will all end. He sees the crucial clash in his country as no longer between left and right, but between conservatives and innovators. Given the strength of opposition to change from the public administration, trade unions, many parts of business and finance and Italy’s bloated political class, whose privileges and sinecures he aims to scrap, a more sanguine assessment would be foolhardy.The government’s framework economic policy document, outlined on April 8th, shows the narrowness of the bounds within which he will have to operate—and how easily he could overstep them. Its centrepiece is a reduction in income tax for the less well-off that will cost an estimated €6.7 billion ($ 9.2 billion) this year. Its justification is more political than economic: it will help Mr Renzi’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD) in the European election in May, when a good result is essential to satisfy a party in which many prominent older figures resent…
