Why Italy lagging behind?

19 March 2019

“What I believe is missing in Italy is not the reforms, but believing in the reforms”, said Guiseppe Bertola, University of Turin, when presenting this years' EEAG Report on a seminar in Stockholm. He added that "the solution is not to do the reforms that Germany is doing, it’s not to become Danish and it’s not to do what you did when the country did well. The solution is to understand the surrounding”. Karolina Ekholm, professor in international economics, and Mauro Gozzo, chairman of the Economic Council of Swedish Industry, commented on the report. "Sweden is seen as one of the good guys, and I do not like this narrative since it divides up Europe into south and north,” explained Ekholm. Mauro Gozzo agreed.

From left: Professor Lars Persson (moderator), professor Lars Persson (moderator), Mauro Gozzo, Chairman Economic Council of Swedish Industry, Professor Giuseppe Bertola, University of Turin, and Professor Karolina Ekholm.

“When a country opens up to trade, the country as a whole usually does better. Some people inside the country will, however, do worse”, said Guiseppe Bertola, University of Turin, said Guiseppe Bertola.

“It would be important for Italy to have a democratically elected government that can do something” Karolina Ekholm, explained when asked to address some important points regarding the solution for Italy.

Mauro Gozzo commented on the EEAG Report 2019, explaining that a problem in Italy is that numerous small companies are not very productive. At the same time, the exporting industries show great productivity.

“It’s not enough to say ‘it’s the euro’” Guiseppe Bertola explained to the qualified and interested audience when commenting on Italy's problems and the fact that Italy is part of the Eurozone.

Published March 19