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ROME LETTER:Italians' careful attitude with money may serve the country well as financial storms blow, writes Paddy Agnew

AND, IN these times of economic crisis, how is dear old Italy and how does she stand? Curiously, as the icy blasts of recession and crisis blow, "the sick lady of Europe" is, for once, not looking quite so bad. When you ask people about the economic crisis, you tend to get a stock, jocose answer: "Crisis? Recession? Sure, how could we tell? We've been in crisis for years now." The bottom line would seem to be that if you have never had a boom, then the level of your letdown and recession will be much contained. Even expert economists are making noises in this direction. According to Giuseppe Sacco of Rome's Luiss University, "Italy will continue to float rather better than some others".