"That statement was not addressed to the authors of political statements. I said that I deplore attempts to misinform the public and to /trigger/ political intervention. And there were such attempts"
About this Quote
Monti’s sentence is a masterclass in bureaucratic force delivered with professorial restraint: it narrows the target, then widens the indictment. He begins by disclaiming an obvious reading - “not addressed to the authors of political statements” - which is less exoneration than boundary-drawing. Politics, he implies, is allowed to be political. What’s not allowed is the weaponization of information to corner institutions into action.
The loaded verbs do the real work. “Misinform” isn’t “argue” or “spin”; it casts the other side as illegitimate, not merely wrong. Pair that with the oddly clinical “trigger political intervention” and you get the subtext: someone tried to manufacture an emergency, to create the appearance of public demand or market panic that would force a government, regulator, or international body to move. “Trigger” is telling because it suggests automation: press the right emotional button and the state reflexively reacts. Monti is rejecting that model of governance.
The last line - “And there were such attempts” - is the quiet menace. No names, no details, just the assertion of fact, which both elevates him above partisan mudslinging and signals that he knows more than he’s saying. Coming from a technocratic public servant associated with crisis-era Europe, the context is almost certainly a moment when markets, media, and political actors were competing to frame reality faster than institutions could verify it. The quote’s intent is to defend procedural legitimacy: debate is fine; manipulation is a threat to the system.
The loaded verbs do the real work. “Misinform” isn’t “argue” or “spin”; it casts the other side as illegitimate, not merely wrong. Pair that with the oddly clinical “trigger political intervention” and you get the subtext: someone tried to manufacture an emergency, to create the appearance of public demand or market panic that would force a government, regulator, or international body to move. “Trigger” is telling because it suggests automation: press the right emotional button and the state reflexively reacts. Monti is rejecting that model of governance.
The last line - “And there were such attempts” - is the quiet menace. No names, no details, just the assertion of fact, which both elevates him above partisan mudslinging and signals that he knows more than he’s saying. Coming from a technocratic public servant associated with crisis-era Europe, the context is almost certainly a moment when markets, media, and political actors were competing to frame reality faster than institutions could verify it. The quote’s intent is to defend procedural legitimacy: debate is fine; manipulation is a threat to the system.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
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