[danielf]

Interesting take here

Who, What, Why: What can technocrats achieve that politicians can't?

Italy is no stranger to the phenomenon, having appointed several technocrats to lead the country out of various economic crises in the early 1990s.

The first was Giuliano Amato who became prime minister in 1992 to respond to Italy's expulsion from the European Monetary System. In 1995, Lamberto Dini took the reins to reform the country's pensions system.

"These times are engraved on the memory of most Italians," says Mr Incerti, because they are times of extreme duress and economic problems.

There is no suggestion that these two appointments are part of a wider European trend, he says. Indeed there may have been periods in the last 10 or 20 years when there were more examples than there are now.

"Smaller European states have often turned to technocrats when they have difficulty in getting a viable coalition together and a non-party figure is part of the deal brokered."