Can populist forces tackle socio-economic inequalities, loosen up austerity policies and promote more stringent forms of financial regulation? In other words, can they fulfil the social segments of their electoral programmes? The ambiguous role of the Italian executive on issues of finance and financialisation—a phenomenon which Nölke has defined as ‘an especially aggressive form of economic globalization’—can be regarded as paradigmatic of the approach of many radical-right and nationalist movements in developed economies.