A reconstruction of economic and social reforms of the Renzi and Gentiloni governments seen from the inside. Marco Leonardi gives an account of his experience in the institutions between 2014 and 2018, describing the lights and shadows of that season.
The author, a full professor of political economy at the State University of Milan, was economic adviser to the Prime Minister's Office in the Pd-led Executives. Leonardi recounts the three and a half years spent at Palazzo Chigi in "The reforms halved” (Bocconi University Editore 2018; 144 pages; 15,50 euros).
An experience that he defines as "extraordinary" and that he talks about starting from the topics he mainly dealt with: work and pensions.
The author offers his point of view on the processes that led to the elaboration of the laws, reflecting on why some choices were made and not others, and - above all - on why the great structural reforms that were made in those years did not finally managed to change the perception of voters. All this without failing to discuss the causes of the lack of success of "his" governments, especially in terms of growth, young people, the South and immigration.
The leitmotif of the narrative is the evolution of relations between the government and the trade unions in the years that marked the season of reforms.
Leonardi's book reflects on the themes mentioned above, using three different approaches: a factual account, a personal-professional one and a political one.
