Minister Tria, it's time to resign

The rumors follow one another, overcoming any formal denial: the Minister of the Economy Giovanni Tria is fed up to be considered irrelevant by the two ringleaders who lead the current government. Prime Minister Conte, who up to a certain point had seemed attentive to the professor's reasoning, suddenly decided to put him aside and deal directly with Brussels hoping to make inroads into Juncker's Christian Democrat heart. It is even said that Tria confided to her friend Brunetta that she was fed up with the bad impressions and humiliations that he has to suffer every day. At this point what awaits the minister to resign and thus separate their responsibilities from those of the yellow-green government which is carrying out a rambling economic maneuver and above all harmful to the Italian economy and to the very possibility of alleviating poverty and creating jobs?

So far the collaboration of Tria and other technicians with this government born from the sum of two populisms who deceived the Italians, spreading illusions about the easy solution to the problems that have been gripping our country for years, was based on the generous conviction of being able to lend a hand to bring the "electoral promises" into measures consistent with the balance of the budget and with the need to confirm the markets' confidence in the sustainability of our debt. In short, Tria said, politicians do a bit of propaganda, but then concretely they will have to understand that certain measures, such as the reform of the Fornero and the citizen's income, will have to be implemented over a rather long time - the entire legislature - but hand that the growth of the Italian economy will be strengthened thanks to the relaunch of public investments, and to the other simplification measures envisaged.

And instead Salvini and Di Maio have not accepted this common sense reasoning and they went wild in a run-up to see who was better at keeping their electoral promises. Shouting "the people want it" Di Maio announced the elimination of poverty, while Salvini gave satisfaction to his voters in the North by sending them into early retirement at 62, as had always happened before the 2011 crash.

Tria, which had also reassured investors and partners in Brussels that our deficit in 2019 would be between 1,6% and 1,9%, suddenly found itself having to defend a 2,4% based only on current expenses and not on investments on which the minister had staked all his cards to pass what was in any case a deviation from the path that the Italian government had only accepted last June.

At this point, investors, already alarmed by numerous improvident statements by both Di Maio and Salvini on the euro, on the absurd decision to further indebt our country already crushed by a debt exceeding 130% of GDP, gradually abandoned our public bonds by increasing the spread up to over 300 points, and putting banks and other Italian bond issuers in difficulty. Suffice it to say that Unicredit had to renew its expiring bond by paying an interest of over 4,5%.

This advertising policy has already led to losses for savers for more than 100 billion euros, while private investment has stalled and consumption has slowed as people fear they will have to pay more taxes in the future to cover budget gaps. The GDP has stopped growing and indeed for the first time after four years, it has already retreated by 0,1% in the third quarter of the current year. Finally, most serious of all, unemployment has started to rise again and a real one is shaping up for next year massacre of fixed-term contracts thanks to the catastrophic "dignity decree" by DiMaio.

Now Prime Minister Conte should fly to Brussels to propose a review of the budget maneuver according to the indications of the European Commission. It is difficult for this to happen. The maneuver is in fact totally wrong and it should be rewritten from top to bottom, focusing on competitiveness, on the decrease of the spread, and on public and private investments in order to avoid the looming recession and give support to the labor market. Instead, the aim is for some sliding over time of the application of the 100 quota for pensions and the citizen's income. Measures that perhaps would serve to adjust the accounts a little in 2019 but which would put the budgets of the following years in serious crisis. All the rest numbers are How High starting with those on growth, given that nobody really believes that Italy can record a 1,5% increase in GDP next year. Well that goes we will be between 0,5 and 1%.

Suspicion hovers over all these numbers a fraudulent construction, also endorsed by various deputies of the majority who argue that Brussels can be right on the deficit numbers, so much are forecasts that can then be exceeded in the final balance. And when problems arise with the EU, we will see in a year how to manage them.

If this is the case, it seems unlikely that Brussels will be able to accept such a trivial patch of the maneuver, which in any case should also bear the signature of Tria. And then what is the minister waiting to reveal the game of three cards tempted by the illusionists who govern us, and thus carry out a truth operation in front of public opinion? And then run away.

The parable of the technical minister of the economy demonstrates how it is impossible for sensible people to collaborate with these political movements which, like the 5 Stars are not democratic, or like the League, are stupidly sovereign. A sovereignty that does not produce an advantage for the Italians but which is plunging our country into a new deep economic and social crisis.