“Parish capitalism against the free market”, “Techno-populism”, “Populism on the way”, “Clumsy Robin Hood instinct” or “Populists in minor things and pragmatists in minor things” ? The hot summer of the premier Giorgia Meloni on the hot topics of the economy and finance it has unleashed a real jumble of judgments - starting from the markets - on the new phase of the Meloni government which contains sensational blunders and a good dose of ambiguity that is difficult to classify. Beyond the battle over the minimum wage, the cornerstone of the scandal was the extra tax on corporate profits banks, launched self-harming surprise even if belatedly scaled down, but also the chills from patrimonial courses in Parliament and the surrender in front of the powers that be taxi drivers, the ambiguities about the new corporate governance rules that will shape the face of Italian capitalism to arrive at the return of the State in Telecom they require a review of the profile of the Meloni government towards the market. In her first months, Meloni was two-headed: a prisoner of the ghosts of the reactionary right on identity issues (starting with migrants) but careful to remain in the wake of Mario Draghi's policy on economics.
Melons 2.0: wWhat is the true identity of Government in the economy today? Technopopulism or halfway populism?
But what is Meloni's real identikit today? We are facing the "technopopulism“, that is, a style of government that is populist in minor matters and pragmatic in essential ones, as the Figaro editorialist benevolently wrote a few months ago, Nicolas Baverez? But, beyond the modest revenue it will produce (it had to be 7 billion and will be at most 2), can the tax awkwardly dropped on the banks really be considered a minor problem? The major Italian economists do not think so – from Francis Giavazzi a Lorenzo Bini Smaghi and Maffe Carnival (“Parish Capitalism Versus the Free Market”) a Giorgio Barba Novaretti (“Awkward Robin Hood instincts”). And perhaps the new French site is not wrong Le Journal.info, launched by the former Director first of Nouvel Observateur and then of Liberation, Laurent Joffrin who, in an investigation into populism, clearly distinguishes Meloni's position from that of The Pen and defines that of the Italian premier as "a half-way populism" and a "populism on the way", however wondering what the final destination will be.
Meloni 2.0, approximation and amateurism of a government that aims to last more than to govern
What transpires from Meloni's policy in economics and finance is a good dose of approximation and sometimes amateurism (how to judge differently the counter-attack suffered in Parliament by Nicola Fratoianni on the assets?) of a Government that sails on sight and that – as the sociologist recalled a few months on FIRSTonline Franco Ferrarotti – “think of lasting more than governing”. A Government which, faced with problems it knows little about (what will be its line on increased voting rights in listed companies which, if made compulsory, can overturn the balance of power at the top of Italian capitalism?) takes time but does not hide its impulses to statism and interventionism. More state and less market it looks like the new look of Meloni 2.0. A discourse that applies to the banks but also applies to the intervention in Telecom where the entry of the Treasury at 20% is certainly more sustainable than the projects for the complete nationalization of the first Italian telephone company initially overshadowed by Brothers of Italy, but it is still the reversal of the privatization of Telecom wanted in 1997 by the then Minister of the Treasury Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and then betrayed by the signed debt tender offer D'Alema.
Can a conclusion be drawn? Partly yes and partly not yet. The unpreparedness and dilettantism of Meloni's ministers are there for all to see and certainly the resurgences of interventionism and statism have made the Government lose the favor of the financial markets which for a country weighed down by public debt is not the best. But the real test will come shortly when the Government, to fulfill the promises, will have to find the beauty of at least 20 billion euros for the budget manoeuvre? Where will he get them? When we know, we will understand the true nature of the Meloni 2.0 government in the economy.
