Liberalisation, innovation, the labor market, the fight against corruption and tax evasion, administrative justice, quality spending: these are the stakes which, according to the OECD, indicate the way for the growth of our country. The path was traced by the deputy secretary general and chief economist of the OECD, Carlo Padoan, heard in the Budget Committee of the Chamber.
Liberalizations. “It is important – says Padoan – that further liberalizations are carried out in Italy, such as in the energy sector, which means a reduction in production costs. But we also need to liberalize the market for products, i.e. services, as in other European countries”. The OECD has also urged Germany, a country with a completely different economic situation than Italy, "to have more courage" in the liberalization of services. Shortly, the international body will present a report on the euro area in which it will highlight "the important advantages of growth (10% in 10 years in some countries) if a series of reforms are implemented”, in particular liberalisations.
Innovation. The "weak point" of the Italian economy, underlined Padoan, is innovation. "It is necessary to invest in human capital and reform university education, also in terms of specializations". Specifically, Padoan has proposed a reorganization of tax breaks on innovation, which means "lower taxes on the hiring of personnel specialized in research and development".
Job market. The "main problems" in Italy are represented by the "poor access capacity", and therefore by the youth precariousness, by the "excessive proliferation of the number of contracts, even if it is difficult to arrive at a single contract". Not only. For the deputy secretary general and chief economist of the OECD "the system of social safety nets must be strengthened and modernized".
Corruption. Padoan has no doubts: "Corruption is a phenomenon to be fought not only for ethical reasons" but also because it represents a "very high cost" in terms of loss of competitiveness for businesses. And in the absence of "sufficient transparency", observes Padoan, "foreign investment stays at home".
Justice. According to Padoan "the bad performance of growth in Italy also derives, in some sectors, from the inefficient capacity of administrative justice to resolve administrative conflicts".
Revenue authorities. The action of the Monti government against the fight against tax evasion is good, which however - warns Padoan - "should not be denied by amnesties that give opposite signals" to the contrast operation. "The principles and instruments adopted by the government are fine but further elements of transparency and effectiveness are needed in the fight" against tax evasion.
Public accounts. The serious budgetary situation of our country "has made it necessary to maneuver on taxes rather than on spending cuts - notes Padoan - even if rebalanced by the intervention on pensions". And in the medium term it indicates the need to proceed with the so-called spending review in order "to make the cut in expenses qualitative, as in other countries".
