Luckily there are the Quirinale and the ECB. Without Giorgio Napolitano and without Mario Draghi, who watch over – and above all act – over the present and future of Italy and Europe, who knows where we would be. Call it semi-presidentialism, if you like, but the abrupt halt of the Head of State to the dreams of crisis cultivated on the left on the wings of the indecent Alfano case had the immediate effect of locking down the Letta government, paving the way for confirmation of confidence in the Senate.
Let's be clear: the management of the Kazakh affair remains "unheard of" (the words are the same as the President of the Republic) and the conditions for distrusting the Minister of the Interior, or at least splitting his function leaving him only as deputy prime minister, were all there, but once again Napolitano gave us a great lesson in politics, reminding us that one of the first virtues that a good politician must have is that of calculating the effects of his moves in advance.
If to oust Alfano – as in theory it was right that it should be – we had faced a foreseeable government crisis, what would the effects have been for Italy on the financial markets and on the international scene? But, above all: what would be the alternative majority to this government? Either you give a convincing answer to this question or you get lost in beach talk. Since a clear winner did not emerge from the electoral polls, it is evident that the government of broad agreements is a daily suffering that obliges exhausting mediations, but this does not mean - as we will see later - condemning oneself to immobility or resigning oneself to the lowest of compromises .
Together with Napolitano, Mario Draghi was the other great protagonist of a turbulent week full of surprises also from a financial point of view, such as the mass arrest of the Ligresti family for the indecorous thefts against 12 savers of Fonsai under the gaze accomplice of the Insurance Authority and like the historic turning point in Siena where Alessandro Profumo took home the archiving of the 4% share ceiling in Mps which opens the doors to new shareholders. But a surprise was also the entry of Urbano Cairo into the RCS shareholding.
Draghi's new thrust, which has eased the squeeze on collateral for bank loans to small and medium-sized enterprises, is the signal that Europe has not yet lost hope of raising its head and resuming the road to recovery by starting from credit normalization. Draghi's initiative, always watched closely by the hawks of the Bundesbanks, is not the panacea for all ills, but it is a stone in the pond. The steps taken by the Quirinale and the ECB, each in his own field, are the necessary conditions - political stability and liquidity for the production system - to get out of the most frightening post-war recession, but they are not sufficient. Others have to do their part and if there is a government it is time for it to strike a blow. It's not enough to float.
It's time for strong decisions. Both in terms of debt and growth. It will also be possible to discuss whether or not the Minister of the Economy should consider selling shares in listed public companies, but it is quite clear that, with his words, Fabrizio Saccomanni wanted to make the international markets and institutions understand that in the autumn the Government intends to reopen the privatization dossier as a vehicle for reducing the public debt. Exactly as Enrico Letta promised in his recent meeting with the City's financial community.
Excellent intentions, provided that the facts arrive soon. And that the reduction of the debt is accompanied by interventions also in terms of growth. For some time now, excellent ideas have been circulating among our institutional investors that the Government would do well to collect. The president of Assogestioni, Domenico Siniscalco, who not by chance was present at Letta's meeting with the City, is arguing that part of the assets of mutual investment funds could be destined, under tax conditions favorable to long-term investors, to support and strengthening of our production system and in particular of our small and medium-sized enterprises.
A line not very dissimilar from the one supported, in the recent meeting, by the president of ANIA, Aldo Minucci, who announced the availability, under certain conditions, of Italian insurance companies to act as stable and long-term investors in the Italian production system. These are all interesting signs that it is up to the Government to investigate and collect.
But the Letta government also has to face the bull by the horns and not declassify the reduction in taxes on labor and businesses, which is the only way to give real impetus to development and to get out of the swamp of recession. Naturally, resources and patience are needed if it is necessary to give the PDL some disappointment on the IMU and VAT and some pain for the unions and the Pd on spending cuts. Compromise is the salt of politics but mediating does not mean standing still and it is time for development to put our foot down. Enrico Letta had rightly declared, in his initial speech on trust, that he would not have governed at any cost. Sacrosanct. It's time to dare and challenge the opponents of change.
