The election of Italy's 62nd government in 63 years offers little hope of escape from a dire economic situation.
Neither Silvio Berlusconi, the leader of the centre-Right coalition who emerged as victor last night, nor his main rival, Walter Veltroni, had put forward a convincing programme for cutting the country's huge budget deficit.
Both promised to axe spending programmes while simultaneously dangling expensive new projects to entice the voters.
Both candidates were only too aware that any serious attempt to reduce debt would mean job losses and confrontation with the powerful trade unions.
As a result, neither showed any appetite for the kind of reforming zeal with which Margaret Thatcher tackled British vested interests in the 1980s.
Italy's dilemma is neatly illustrated by its performance within the euro zone.
Since 1995, it has lost an estimated 40 per cent in labour cost competitiveness against Germany.
Along with their counterparts in other Mediterranean members of the zone, its exporters are being squeezed by the strength of the euro resulting from the European Central Bank's maintenance of high interest rates.
It will require a succession of strong governments bent on reform to overcome this disadvantage.
Unfortunately, the present voting system, introduced under Mr Berlusconi in 2005, is not conducive to stable administrations, as Romano Prodi's latest spell as prime minister has just shown, the key factor being his lack of a majority in the upper house.
The most daunting aspect of Italy's economic failings is the old divide between north and south.
The first has adapted to the bracing winds of globalisation. The second, with 20 per cent unemployment, low salary levels and scant regard for the rule of law, has not.
Bridging that gap will require decades of investment in infrastructure and education, and a determination finally to break the power of the Mafia.
Further reform of the electoral law may result in more powerful administrations at the centre, but, without formidable leadership, they will not cure the country's chronic sickness.
A touch of schadenfreude over those poor hopless Italians but at least they had the sense to throw out an incompetent Socialist Government after a few months. If life is so bad in Italy why do so many British people leave the UK and live there? Why do so many other British people say they would if they could? True the Ero doesn't really suit the Italians -not enough notes--after all it is the Deutchmark in disguise. Governments -what do they matter when the country is run by organised crime anyway? Do Italian journals have articles on cross cultural violence, youth stabbings and racially defined no-go zones in British cities or the 2000 terror plots that Jacqui Smith is busy sniffing out? Possibly not.Sick man of Europe.....Who?
guys don't hate us!!! don't forget that we are under "regime"! PM Silvio Berlusconi owns 3 national television, an undidentified number of journals and company, as publitalia, that control somthing as the whole of publicity market. people here can't make a choice based upon fact, but only upon opinion gaved by obedient journalist, into his boss television!but not every italian has voted for Silvio, as not every American has voted for Bush!! we can only hope that the most of pepole here loves democracy, more than loves Milan! greetings from italy!
Post Lisbon Treaty ratification, the EU are planning to bale Italy out with taxpayers' money from the European Investment Bank and the European Social Fund in a 10 year economic expansion programme for Italy. So now you know where some of your hard earned money will be spent.
It's interesting to see how people will spin the data this way and that in order to try to "prove" that Italy is a great place and the UK is not. Spin this: since Italy joined the Euro, its GNP per head has fallen to well below the EU average - an average that includes places like Bulgaria and Greece - while that of the UK remains twenty percent above EU average, and also comfortably above that of France and Germany. Oh, but wait, the Italians make nice shoes, so that makes up for everything.
Back in '96, I remember the 'Ulivo' coalition, a group of parties united by nothing but the fact that they all enjoyed cooking in olive oil. One of my Italian friends told me that the Rifondazione (the hard line communists) was a great party with a tradition stretching right back to the Mediccis and that Tuscany had the best olive oil. The most important thing about the election was that every party had their own rock group, which played on Borgo Stretto, next to the Salza coffee shop. I remember that there was a large amount of ball scratching in Italy and when I asked one of my colleagues what it was all about he replied, 'it is a honourable tradition, stretching back to the Mediccis, basically to make sure that they are still there.'
Wow, this can't pass. Irrespective of the colour of the new government, it is really difficult to understate the significance of these results for the 'sick man of Europe'. Two VERY significant things have happened which bide well for the future: 1. a severe reduction in the numbers of parties - the governing coalition is of only two parties, closely aligned and the opposition is of just one – the PD (with the UDC in LibDem style no-man's-land), 2. the falling to pieces of the old left, the complete exit from Parliament of the Hard left and the realignment of the “sensible” left in one party. What this means is that: 1. Mr. Berlusconi will have to do very much less looking over his shoulder at his coalition "partners" before doing things, in fact he will not be able to do this at all as a united opposition will not give him time or space for prevarication. The left say otherwise but I believe there will be much more discipline. 2. The kind of intellectual mast****tion practiced by the hard left (Bennite policy had nothing on this) that got in the way of serious policy of the left may even finally be consigned to the dustbin of history. So, even if next time we have a left leaning government, it will be able to govern and will have no excuse for not governing. Mr. Berlusconi seems to be hitting the ground running – he has already promised to disband ICI (council tax to the uninitiated), to resolve the Neapolitan rubbish problem and de-tax overtime. Simple promises it will be very hard to go back on as he has promised to do these in the first weeks of his premiership. Did Mr. Brown abolish Council Tax on becoming premier? Will Mr Cameron? Let's see who is the real sick man of Europe...
"The election of Italy's 62nd government in 63 years..." Italians are psychotic...Or smart.
Rastus 4:47 Great to hear someone say something nice about the Turks ! Serefe ! Most Turkish people are now against joining the EU and they are right. And the EU will never admit them anyway. It is just a dangling carrot to get concessions on Cyprus etc.
I have spent the last four years sailing around the Med with my family. Without doubt Italy is the most expensive place for yachtsmen to cruise in their boats. It is Rip Off Land. Having said that the food in Italy is the best in the world and the best Italians are incredibly warm and hospitable even though the rest are grasping con men. Only in England are facilities - or the lack of them - for yachtsmen so overpriced Croatia used to be lovely but the rip off merchants have moved in. You now have to pay a fortune just to drop your anchor. Spain is boring - you just sail from one overpriced marina to the next as there are no natural habours. Med France is also far too expensive which is strange as French ports in the English Channel provide good facilities at less than a quarter of the price you have to pay in England. Greece is lovely but shambolic as local Greek politicians love to pocket EU grants (meant to build marinas) for their house improvements and Mercedes cars. There must be literally hundreds of projects that got started but were never finished. Turkey is fantastic - why on earth some Turks want to join the corrupt EU is beyond my comprehension. They are far better off out of it.
Taken from the Official Journal of the EU C306/231: ..'Italy is to carry out a ten year programme of economic expansion designed to rectify the disequilibria in the structure of the Italian economy and the European Council agrees that to facilitate this accomplishment that they should employ all methods and procedures in this Lisbon Treaty to make appropriate use of the resources of the European Investment Bank and the European Social Fund.' So don't worry about Italy - the British taxpayer will be helping them out.
I hope that every people wants a left gouvernment in italy, they had it! Italy was cooming to ruin, there were 134 tax in addition!!! But if you like left, take it!
Italy has always been a contrast between the producers in the north amd the parasites in the south. Italy should split into two countries. Posted by Barb on April 15, 2008 11:06 Italy did split into two once. Florence was the capital of the north,I believe.
Before sorry for my bad english.... Italians are stupid people, the cause of this Berlusconi election is because he control every aspect of media (tv and paper) i hate to have this criminal man in our government he don't represent me and a lot of italians. We are here thanks to the laws he do for himself. I see a black future for our poor italy....
Look hard at the Italian political system which involves a new administration on average every year since the war. It is geared to stalemate, uncomfortable coalitions and waste - with little achieved for the real benefit of the country. That is what would happen were changes to our own government and election structure made which some politicians and the EU would love to achieve - further dis-enabling voters to actually manage their own destiny and that of their supposed nation state. We're paying into the EU to be on par with this rabble and a rag tag of other basket cases. Our inexorable dragging down to their level in so many ways is in progress. All of this multi-layered government amounts to fiddling while Rome, London, Madrid, Paris etc., burns - for few of these states are really tacking their serious structural issues.
The problem with Italy is that a great amount of working-age people work very hard to produce real wealth in order to support an equally great amount of working-age people who do not. Unlike Britain, they do this without the support of North Sea oil or the City of London. Unfortunatley this situation in Italy is deeply entrenched but it clearly cannot go on. Euro membership has highlighted the deep structural problems in Italy which in the past could be swept under the carpet by periodic devaluations. Now the chickens have come home to roost and the problem has to be met head on. The state sector of the economy must contract and private enterprise must increasingly dictate the level of sustainable employment throughtout the whole length of the peninsula. On the positive side, Italians are not burdened with the crippling personal debt and collapsing house prices that we see in the UK, nor do they have anything like Britain's unsustainable balance of payments deficit and collapsing currency. Their manufacturing base is intact and so is their national identity. It is on these strenghts that Italy should build, but first and foremost she needs to permanently address her glaring regional imbalances which, if not resolved, will continue to drag her down.
Italy has always been a contrast between the producers in the north amd the parasites in the south. Italy should split into two countries.
the centre right coalition has achieved a good majority in both houses and the policies are clear to everybody so i would guess that in the next few years there is hope, even if small, of a economical recovery. Tax cuts, the issue of alitalia and federalism are the main projects which will make italy competitive again. Oh by the way, for the person called AA, italy does not feed from the CAP, you're getting countries mixed up, and for the rule of law, well, i think britain has a far higher level of violence within its border (especially juvinile) than italy does.
Europe is a pathetic little place...Like real-world Disneyland only ugly, small, and dirty.
Italy, the sick man of europe, the other 3 million are here in the UK !
Spain is in the waiting room looking rather peaky.
If the Northern League have their way it'll mean 'balkanisation' of the boot and back to the petty kingdoms of pre-Garibaldi. The coalition won't last, we hope.
I am lucky enough to spend a fair amount of time in Italy and I can assure you that life over there is not that easy at the moment for the average Italian. Inflation is higher than it is here and wages are lower. Clearly there are problems with corruption in politics coming principally from the South and the balance of payments deficit is like a bag of sub standard mafia cement around the country's neck. However there are a lot of genuinely hardworking and innovative people there just trying to make a living. I just hope Berlusconi doesn't repeat his prevous mistakes but I have my doubts.
Well if you want to have a good laugh take a look a democracy,Italy is a fine example,looks like a continuation of the Mafioso policy. good job they belong to the E.U.they know how to splash money around.
Graham King seems to be talking bollocks although to be frank I'm not quite sure what he means. Tuscany is full of immigrants, most of them lawyers and accountants from London of course but there plenty of hardworking lads from Morocco as well so it's not all bad. Fortunately the Italians have a rare ability to get on and enjoy a quality of life that escapes most of those within Albion's happy shores in Mr Brown's paradise on earth. Frankly I'd rather be here. And Lou Coatney - what is he on?? Completely out to lunch by the look of it.
Strange, how Italy is a kind of 'upside down' Britain. However, even with that delightful Italian climate, the immigrants prefer Britain - now why should that be? When it comes to the 'sick man of Europe', ask not for whom the bell tolls.
It's a little more serious than this: Berlusconi is neoconservative and supported our war crime Iraq war. Sarkozy is neoconservative. Cheney&Bush; have another eager ally for military adventurism -- attacking Iran or ... worse -- these guys tend to believe each other -- and Berlusconi's election greatly increases the danger of that happening. I wonder if Berlusconi and Kosovo's Thaci are pals.
And the U.K. is by far the ugliest man of europe - miserable place