On Monday 28 January, Corriere della Sera made available to Professor Pasquale Tridico, Luigi Di Maio's young economic adviser, an entire page to sing the praises of basic income, in his opinion the largest investment in human capital ever, milestone in the fight against poverty and unemployment and the foundation of a new welfare state. Nothing less. If Gilberto Govi, the brilliant Genoese comedian of whom Grillo certainly cannot be called an epigone, were still alive, he would probably say to him, as he used to do on such occasions, "cala trinchetto!".
Citizenship income cannot be used for everything: it either fights poverty or promotes employment and development.
CONTRAST TO POVERTY
If you want to fight poverty, as it is absolutely necessary to do, then the most suitable tool is the entry income: that is, an economic subsidy accompanied however by social assistance measures, which is what the Gentiloni government had begun to do with the Rei. If Tridico had suggested to Di Maio to refinance this fund with a few billion, the Pd himself could have done nothing but vote in favour.
EMPLOYMENT SUPPORT
If, on the other hand, you want to promote employment, then the main road is that of labor market reform (more transparency and more efficiency), the strengthening of Employment Centers (public and private) and incentives for businesses (structural reduction of the tax wedge). Again, forms of income support would be needed, especially for those who have lost their jobs, but this type of subsidy already exists (the naspi) and it would have been enough to refinance it without having to invent new ones.
ONGOING FORMATION
What is missing and which would instead serve as bread are investments in continuing education. Di Maio doesn't talk about it because he has an archaic vision of the job market, to say the least. For him, work must be permanent, for life and possibly close to home. The idea that working for life is destined to disappear and that the abhorred mobility is destined to become the norm does not even seem to cross his mind. Were this not the case, if Di Maio, Casaleggio and the 5 Stars had really understood what work is and what it is destined to become, they would have realized that the future of work is inextricably linked to continuous training and that the only The way to defend and enhance work is to continuously increase its skills. Far from disappearing, as Casaleggio prophesied! Work is the essence of man, his wealth and will never disappear. It may also change profoundly, as has already happened, but not disappear.
EMPLOYMENT CENTERS
The problem therefore is not that of giving any income to those who do not work but that of help, even with a subsidy if needed, workers in the phase of transition from one job to another. This is what the employment centres, both public and private, and this would require continuous training. Italy, and certainly not the fault of Di Maio and Tridico, is a thousand miles away from having this awareness. There is a guilty delay of the country for which we are all responsible. But this is no justification for continuing on the old path. The challenge of labor mobility and that of continuous training do not concern Di Maio alone, but the Government as a whole and all democratic institutions. It is not a sectoral issue or one of exclusive regional but national interest.
CITIZENSHIP INCOME AND GDP GROWTH
However, the point that most of all highlights the total inconsistency of the speech made in praise of the basic income by Professor Tridico in the Corriere della Sera is that relating to the contribution it would make to the development of the country. Citizenship income, at best, can help keep demand high, which is a good thing anyway, but it cannot fuel growth because growth depends on public and private productive investments, on the quality of tangible and intangible infrastructures, on research and innovation as well as on economic and social reforms. These are the measures that make it possible to increase the country's productivity and create jobs. Why then does Tridico and the 5 Stars insist on basic income? Maybe because they are, as Tridico likes to call himself, ultra Keynesians? No, they do it because they are truly convinced of the thesis that Tridico has been supporting for some time and which he also illustrated in the Corriere, namely that increasing the number of registered job seekers (hence the obligation to register in those lists for those requesting income) the rate of potential workers increases, which is the one on the basis of which the European financial institutions formulate their forecasts on the growth of individual countries.
THE REAL GOAL: TO INCREASE THE DEBT
The higher this rate is, the higher the growth forecasts and the wider the margins for financial maneuver (the famous numbers). By increasing the rate of potential workers, as Tridico proposes to do with mass enrollment in unemployment lists, the country's growth forecast also increases and thus becomes possible, this is the gist of the reasoning, increase public debt without violating European rules. Brilliant! There's nothing to say. Work grows, but only virtually; GDP is also growing, but only hypothetically, while the debt would actually grow. A masterpiece, except that it embarrassingly resembles the game of three cards. A game, Tridico should know, in which the loser is always the blackbird on duty which, in this case, would be the Italian citizens.
