Not even the tackiest German holiday resort sells Adolf Hitler kitsch. Denazification may not have been terribly thorough but at least neo-Nazis are denied the right to buy führer boxer shorts. One side effect of Berlusconi’s grip on Italian politics is a blatant rehabilitation of Mussolini. It’s not just at the level of "ironic" tat. The busts in the photo are of a good enough quality that anyone wanting a constant reminder of a racist mass murderer could have it sitting on their desk. Trash like this is freely available in every city and is much more common now than it was a decade ago.

Berlusconi’s social base is torn on the question of immigration. On the one hand it has the racist reflex. On the other the low level of productivity of major industries like agriculture encourages his supporters to make use of hyper exploited labour to work in the farms. A feature of almost every Italian town is a clear demarcations in the marginal sectors of the economy. South Indians spend their days trying to sell cheap children’s toys on the streets and their evenings flogging single roses in restaurants. Spend an hour in a restaurant and you can be sure that four or five flower sellers will appear at the door. The more humane of the proprietors let one in.

Men from sub-Saharan Africa concentrate on selling cheap sunglasses and jewellery. What is genuinely shocking though is the highly visible exploitation of African women as prostitutes. "Highly visible" means sitting on a chair at 11 o’clock on a Tuesday morning on the approach roads to fairly large towns waiting for customers. In the space of five minutes’ driving you will see several customers pull up or two pairs of legs sticking out the car door. This trade has to be run with the full complicity of the local cops and while it would be wrong to suggest that they are benefiting financially from turning a blind eye you have to conclude that the pimps are giving them a cut.

Probably more than any country in Europe Berlusconi’s Italy is full of stark lessons about globalisation.