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People must be sick of all this madness. Is it that much of a mess or is it mostly all over exaggerated?
As others have mentioned, political business as usual in the post-WWII era.
As far as actual policy, Italians have talked about the same reforms for upwards of 25 years now. In the event, they have only tinkered around the edges of the pension system, but enough in the mid-1990s to stabilize the effective tax rate at around 43% and reduce the national debt to around 105% of GDP, though still on razor's edge.
That stability was upset, not by the US/global financial crisis of 2008-2009 - Italian banks were not significantly involved in irresponsible consumer lending -, but by the recession that it triggered, hitting Italy very hard, leading to numerous defaults on commercial loans.
In the face of recession, the policy response has been to raise the effective tax rate to more than 50%.
The result has been a deeper and longer recession that anyone with common sense would expect.
It doesn't really matter who the band leader is on the Titanic.
Well said CUCUDRULU... I live in Italy....What Government ? The one that olny robs peoples money in form of taxes and gives nothing in return ? It's no wonder the Italians are so fed up they ignore their " government ". It is a vicious circle. My solution...I'm leaving asap..back to the States... If I was younger I'd be heading to Australia or Canada as the US is following Europe's footsteps.
Italia adesso è una vera e propria sciagura!!!! It is not just hype Italy is truly living through CATASTROPHIC and DISASTROUS times.
First of all I was born in the USA of Italian parents and always dreamed of living in Italy. I tried it for 3 years and all I can say is I need to write a book there simply isn't enough room on this entire blog to explain. I'm not even sure what angle to come at it but I can tell you. Italy today is the perfect case study on how a country can ruin it's economy and plunge what was a 1st world highly developed nation onto the brink of default while it's own population plummets into poverty.
In the three years I lived in Italy 2010-2013 I saw this happen in front of my very own eyes.
When I spent time in Italy in 2008 I remember watching tv and seeing the Ameircan stock market plummet every day while America seemed on the brink of ruin. At the same time the Italians were like "crisis but what crisis"
September 2010 the month when the the rug was violently ripped from under italys feet.
Every day I read the news paper on Italy i see 2 words which abound "CALO and CROLLO" Calo=Fall Crollo= collapse. In Italy over the past 3 years the housing market collapsed. Not necessarily the prices like in the US but the fact that Italy saw an over 25% drop in people purchasing houses in 2012. In the same year a record number of houses in Italy were repossessed by the banks more than 40,000 of them. It's as if an entire city as large as Ancona disappeared from the map of Italy. The same thing happened to the auto market as well as clothing and even food sales!
Unemployment and underemployment in Italy is SKYROCKET high!!!! I have friends who have a typical ginormous Italian family where 99% or 100% of his family members are unemployed (people who otherwise worked their whole lives long prior to the crisis)
As of now for the age group of 24-35 only 2 italians out of 10 work (and I guarantee most work for the family business). Plus underemployment is really eating away at italians. There are so so so many people who just don't make enough to get to the end of the month. In Italy the pay check is monthly and honestly 2/3 (I would say conservative estimate) of Italians don't make it past week 3 with what they bring home. In Italy life is expensive and the paycheck is thin. Italy also is one of the highest taxed countries on planet earth.
If you own a business and you pay every tax that you should you could very easily be sending out 55%-70% of your income to the government (I know might as well be communism) This added to the fact that is very and I mean very expensive to higher an employee.
Has any american ever heard "Im sorry to tell you this but my commercialista (accountant) called and said the taxes I would have to pay for you to work here are just too high so I'm sorry I would love to have you as an employee but I just can't afford you!"" ????????
I know countless people in Italy that this scenario has happened too!!!!!! Utterly insane right??
Italian companies are so highly taxed that the MAJORITY of the largest companies in Italy have already crossed the border to finish in the hands of foreigners. Pick and industry and industry like:
Telecom Italia - Italy's AT&T now belongs to the Spanish
Gucci - one of the largest luxury brands on earth (has a majority) belongs to the french
Loro Piana - largest importer of cashmere on Earth was sold to the french
Valentino- Everybody knows Valentino it was sold to Qatari royal family
Bulgari- Italy's largest and most renowned jewelry maker now belongs to the french
Perugina Chocolate - Italy's second largest chocolate manufacturer (after ferrero) belongs to the Chinese
Alitalia - The flag carrier of Italy remains italian for now but I guarantee it won't be for long
Do you see whats happening people? The italian government has removed oxygen from these companies to the point that they just preferred to cross the border than deal with the corruption.
Back to the people a second. In Italy it is also possible to work for months WITHOUT even seeing your paycheck!!!! Totally true! Although it is supposedly illegal it happens all the time and there is extremely little or NO recourse as the italian government itself is the first person to not pay it's own debts.
For instance there have been many private contractors which did work for the italian government i.e. building a rode. The rode lets say was built perfectly and onetime ok italian government where is my check? It can take months if not years for an entrepreneur to see a check from the italian government. It got so bad that the European Union gave the italian government an Ultimatum "Pay your debt to contractors within 30 days or we will sanction you as a nation" even so there are many entrepreneurs waiting to get paid for work done years ago. Oh and yes, lets say you built that road and the italian government was supposed to pay you 1 million euros according to italian law you need to fill out a tax form and pay taxes on that 1 million euros which you still haven't seen!
ABSURD! ABSURD! ABSURD!!!!
I'm not kidding all these examples where taken right out of the headlines in Italy it really is as bad as it seems and honestly SO MUCH WORSE. Nearly 2/3 of italian families have difficulty now providing their families with the basic necessities of life. I mean I have seen many a time an italian woman enter a super market with coins in her hand and pick up 3 things to buy like pasta, tomatoes, and a loaf of bread and count out the coins before she goes to the register (as she cannot surpass that amount). Truly sad the HUMAN TOLL that this disaster is taking on Italians is unforgivable and unacceptable especially when this country has such an immense and amazing potential.
The italians have an innate knack to make both themselves and everything around them beautiful. They have convinced the world over that anything made in this boot shape country is of uttermost superior quality and good taste. So how the heck could things have gone so horribly wrong?
Adopt the euro and let both an evil government and corruption bring your country from what was the second largest manufacturer in Europe in the 90's (after Germany but before even France and England) to the edge of a so called bottomless pit (il baratro in italian). Even scarier is the fact that i talk to my family and friends in Italy on a daily basis and from the way they describe it Italy has well past it's point of no return without yet hitting rock bottom. So only time will tell but I knew the country was in dire trouble when it's Finance Minister in 2012 said "italia sta nell'abisso" italy is an abyss and then in 2013 "italia sta per perdersi nel baratro" italys about to fall into a bottomless pit! I even decisively remember a time when Enrica Letta the prime minister of italy asked the italians to pray for the country soon after that he rose the sales tax "IVA" from 21 to 22%!
Anyway, I will conclude as I started "Italia e una vera e propria sciagura" Italy is a disaster and no it's not hyped up it is under hyped if anything!!!!
PS. I lived in the area around Pescara Italy and during the 3 years I spent there I can't even count the shear number's of stores and businesses that have closed their doors for good. If you go to the city center of any large italian city right now today you will see entire blocks of stores that have gone out of business. Turin in the north is actually the worst hit but NO italian city has been spared. And my generation the late 20 and early 30 year olds in Italy used to be known as "generazione mille euro" 1000 euro a month generation as that was all we could hope for. Now we are called "la generazione perduta" The LOST generation as today these young people have NO ACCSESS to good paying jobs, financing, and worst of all a house. That is unless you come from a family which can afford you these luxuries although going forward how sustainable is that? Something drastic needs to be done and keep in mind that Spain, Portugal, Greece, and even France (yes even France is in major trouble [and for goodness sake France's unemployment rate was 10% on its best day!] ) are in the same boat
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