Una rivista tedesca in lingua inglese che si occupa di Europa, Intereconomics, mi ha chiesto un editoriale sulla situazione corrente Italia-Europa. Chapeau.
Editorial
Italy: A Question of Interest Rates and Trust
Sergio Cesaratto, Università di Siena, Italy.
Contrary
to the image generally portrayed to Northern European countries, Italy
is not a fiscally profligate country. Indeed, Italy has a record of
primary fiscal surpluses (balances that exclude interest rate payments)
since 1992; only Germany can make a similar claim. Regrettably, this
uninterrupted series of budget surpluses was accompanied by a loss of
external competitiveness due to the approaching and later adoption of
the euro since 1995. These two factors combined to form the deep root of
the long-term sluggishness of the Italian economy, particularly of its
labour productivity stagnation. The supply side factors do matter, of
course, given the increased global competitive environment, but the
demand side factors are the main drivers of this development.
