There are various ways to look at the unexpected €13.3bn ($13.9bn) bid that Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) made for Mediobanca on January 24th. At first glance, it testifies to a remarkable recovery by MPS, the world’s oldest bank, which was bailed out by the Italian state in 2017 at a cost of €5.4bn. And if MPS’s attempted purchase of Italy’s pivotal investment bank is accepted, the deal would lead to welcome consolidation in Italy’s fragmented banking industry. But there is also another way to look at the bid. In a country where politics and money overlap to an unusual degree, it is perhaps the most useful. Consider what the deal would mean for Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s prime minister.