Berlusconi Bows Out

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi resigned on Saturday, bowing down on one of the most brash and controversial leaderships of the western world and ushering in a season of austerity for one of Europe’s biggest economies. With Mr. Berlusconi’s rule suddenly coming to a close, what’s clear is that his public and personal misadventures have taken a toll on a nation. Italy, a nation in need of broad social consensus to save itself the euro-zone crisis, has rarely been more polarized.On Saturday night, a crowd of more than 1,000 gathered outside the presidential palace to jeer Berlusconi and throw coins at his car as he arrived to hand in his resignation. He left ignominiously through a side exit.Berlusconi stepped down just hours after parliament gave final approval to a package of economic reforms and deficit-reduction measures agreed last month with the EU to stem mounting panic over Italy’s ability to repay its €1.9tn debt