“The interventions adopted since the summer improve public finances, but they are not enough. For a structural and lasting rebalancing it is necessary that the Country to grow again“. This is the message launched by the new governor of Bank of Italy, Ignazio Visco, speaking at the XXX National Congress of the Italian Association of Juvenile and Family Magistrates.
“The lack of growth in Italy – explained Visco – is largely attributable to the delay and uncertainties with which the production system has responded in the last twenty years to the challenges of technological innovation, of the affirmation of new economies on the world scene, of the decided increased European integration. Entry into the monetary union has eliminated the ephemeral gains deriving from the nominal devaluation of the exchange rate, it has imposed greater fiscal rigor on us to comply with the European pacts”.
A weakness that has damaged above all “those who face the job market“, which “seems excluded from the benefits of the income growth that has occurred in recent decades. THE wage differentials for educational levels are not only lower than in other countries, but are much less large for younger workers than for older ones”.
In short, according to Visco, to raise the growth potential of our country are necessary "broad-spectrum interventions“. Among these, “a reform of the government institutes of the economy for stimulate business activity andlasting entry into the world of workor, especially of women and young people. The main areas of intervention have been known for some time: more competition, particularly in the sectors of protected services; wider access to venture capital, especially for innovative companies; labor market regulation and a social protection system which, acting jointly, favor the reallocation of human resources towards more productive jobs; a more efficient civil justice”.
The governor believes that “only by affecting our structural weaknesses we can regenerate the Italian economy”. We need “an institutional context that favors the dynamism and growth of businesses, more stability and certainty of the regulatory framework, a cancellation of the country's infrastructural lag, particularly in the high technology sectors. Overcoming the dualism of the labor market can be achieved through a comprehensive reform of regulation and social protection more decentralized and flexible bargaining arrangements may allow pay and work organization to be better calibrated. on the concrete conditions of production. Particular attention should be paid to the Noon, where the structural shortcomings are more serious”.
To read the full text of Ignazio Visco's speech click here.
