So far, none of this has shaken democracy, but when enough people become vexed at several things simultaneously, one has the makings of a toxic political brew.

As one of the fastest aging societies in the world, with an economy and a political system inaccessible to its young people, Italy has all the makings of a gerontocracy.

These conditions had all the makings of a depression scenario, with credit rationing destroying businesses indiscriminately, and thus required fast, aggressive, and unconventional action by the US government and the Federal Reserve.

So far, none of this has shaken democracy, but when enough people become vexed at several things simultaneously, one has the makings of a toxic political brew. Nationalism is the classic expression of thwarted democracy.

Not all of them have the makings of an entrepreneur. But most of them have skills worth sharing, whether it s how to run a sales meeting, oversee a development project, or manage a database of customers.

Already some are claiming to discern in his European policy the makings of an heir to Harold Wilson, another famous renegotiator of Britain s terms of membership in the then European Community who went on to win a referendum on Europe.

Add a free trade agreement, or even a customs union with Jordan, and you have the makings of a Middle Eastern Benelux (the grouping of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg that formed the economic kernel of what became the original European Community).