Italy needs a new mentality for growth, says The Economist
13/01/2016
It said researchers working for Italian employers’ association Confindustria have called Italy’s lack of growth in comparison to growth in Ireland, Spain and Portugal “a real puzzle”.
Quoting figures from the International Monetary Fund and the World Economic Forum, the magazine said growth in 2015 is likely to have been 0.8% in Italy, rising to a projected 1.5% this year, although Confindustria seemed to The Economist to be less confident about reaching that figure as 2016 began. The corresponding figures for the other European economies badly affected by the crisis (excluding Greece) are 4.9% and 3.9% for Ireland; 3.1% and 2.5% for Spain and 1.5% and 1.4% for Portugal.
The Economist went on to say that Italian government measures so far, such as tax cuts on homes, appear to be aimed more at winning votes than at stimulating growth.
It spoke to an Italian economist based at the Booth business school in Chicago, Luigi Zingales, about the situation and quoted him as saying: “We need a change of mentality. When I go to a young entrepreneurs’ group in America, I meet young entrepreneurs. In Italy, I primarily meet trust-fund kids who are there thanks to their parents, not their accomplishments.”
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