Giancarlo Pajetta he was an important leader of the PCI, with a personal history as a courageous anti-fascist militant. In the post-war period he distinguished himself for his polemical and combative spirit which often it even annoyed Palmiro Togliatti, who disliked pointless impulsive actions. When in 1947 the government removed Ettore Troilo, the last prefect of the Liberation, to replace him at the Milan prefecture with a ministerial official, Pajetta led a protest that occupied the prefecture. From the prefect's office, he called Togliatti in Rome, triumphantly announcing the occupation. Migliore responded, "Fine, but what do you do with it now?"
Once, during the days of Tribuna Politica, the draw placed him alongside Giorgio Almirante. When his turn came to speak, he stood up and said, "With you, the discussion ended on April 25, 1945," and walked away, astounding longtime host Jader Jacobelli. On another occasion, during a press conference, Pajetta was put in a bind by a journalist who challenged him. a risky defense of the USSRPajetta did not lose heart and addressed the journalist with these words: “Between truth and revolution, I choose the revolution".
The opposition and the inability to criticize the government: the case of the occupation
One could say with the poet "Oh great virtue of the Ancient Knights", observing the line of conduct of the heirs of personalities such as Giancarlo PajettaThe current opposition leaders no longer believe in the revolution but persist in denying the truth. And they end up not being credible in criticizing the government and to the majority, while they would have many more well-founded ones at their disposal, such as to belie the self-satisfaction of the executive.
We take the case of employment: What's the point of denying a positive trend certified by ISTAT? In November 2025, the number of employed people, equal to 24, decreased by 188 (-0,1%) compared to the previous month. The employment rate fell to 62,6% (-0,1 percentage points). However, compared to November 2024, the number of employed people exceeded that of November 34 by 0,7% (+179). This is a combination of growth in permanent employees (+258) and self-employed workers (+126), partially offset by a decline in temporary employees (-204). The unemployment rate has broken through the 6% barrier.
While acknowledging the positive numbers, the Pd interprets the Istat data as signals of a still “poor” occupation, which requires structural reforms and more ambitious industrial policies to create stable, well-paid jobs. Furthermore, it rightly points out that the decline in unemployment is linked to the increase in the inactive population.
The labor market and the supply crisis
There is no adequate attention to the most sensational fact which has affected the job market in recent years, namely the crisis on the supply side which is becoming a constraint on economic growth and investment in new technologies that could foster increased productivity. It's clear that companies won't invest in new technologies if they can't find the right personnel to manage them. the case of services, where the increase in employment (encouraged by low wages) occurs at the expense of greater productivity. It's not that the government is particularly attentive to these problems; but it's one thing to press it on crucial aspects that can change things rather than resort to A litany on precariousness and the mystique of "starvation wages".
The income of Italian families
Employment increases have had an impact on disposable income of Italian families, growing, with significant increases in 2025 thanks to supportive policies and a decline in inflation, recording a real increase in purchasing power and a high propensity to save. However, the improvement should be viewed in the context of a long-term trend. weaker than Europe, with the Italian real income declining over the last 20 years, although recent Istat data indicate a reversal of the trend, with an increase in real disposable income of 1,8% and in purchasing power of 0,9%. In the period October 2024-September 2025, real disposable income increased by 20 billion euros (+1,7%) compared to the previous year. propensity to save rose to 9,3%, a level not seen in years, signaling greater serenity and an accumulation of strategic reserves. financial wealth grew by 266,6 billion euros in 2025 (+4,5%), thanks also to the increase in debt securities and equities. Key factors for the improvement are the tax wedge cutand other support measures and the slowdown in inflation are helping to increase real purchasing power.
The Democratic Party of Elly Schlein defined the recent Budget Law as a “austerity” maneuver: This judgment was shared by the supra-populist and anti-European movements when the Democratic Party (PD) in Italy was the backbone of governments attempting to keep public finances within budgetary rules before the pandemic issued the "free for all" directive. But that was an exceptional phase, after which it would have been necessary to return to budgetary discipline, taking into account the imbalances caused by Russia's aggression in Ukraine and the resulting repercussions on energy supplies.
385 billion in government bonds maturing in 2026
But is it really true that the austerity targets the government has set for itself are luxuries we cannot afford? The collapse of the spread is a panacea for a country like ours, plagued by a huge public debt and a debt service amount structurally equal to the amount invested in public education. The new conditions have determined a interest reduction of as much as 8 billion, while in 2026 alone there are almost 385 billion euros of maturing government bondsThis is the first, massive mountain of public debt that the Treasury will have to refinance in the coming years, and it represents one of the main tests for the government led by Giorgia Meloni.
A significant volume, which fits – Unimpresa observed – into a still fragile international framework, marked by geopolitical tensions linked to the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East, as well as economic growth prospects – domestic and global – far from consolidated. The possibility of refinancing and the rate at which it will occur will be crucial to the country's future, more so than much political controversy.
The wage issue
As for the low wages, the problem exists and it is very serious. As written in the Note presented by the Bank of Italy on the occasion of the hearing on the budget for 2026: ''between the end of 2019 and the second quarter of 2023, real hourly wages in the non-agricultural private sector havereduced by more than 10 percentage points, and then rise by about three points until the second quarter of 2025.'' He added, however, that: ''It is inappropriate to assign the public budget the task of recovering workers' lost purchasing power, especially when corporate profitability can allow this to happen through bargaining.'' And to conclude that ''looking ahead, real wage growth can only be supported by awell-functioning industrial relations system and one productivity boost of labor (which has fallen by more than one percentage point since the end of 2019).'' However, it must be recognized that public budgets have made a significant effort to address this situation through fiscal measures and transfers.
It 'sUpb to indicate that the various interventions on Irpef over the last six years (on the structure of the tax rates, the breakdown of income brackets, tax relief, deductions for income from work and those for charges of taxpayers with higher incomes), including the transfer into Irpef of the income support measures for employed workers introduced to deal with the inflationary crisis of the two-year period 2022-23, have increased progressiveness of the levy with a redistributive action in favour of the lowest incomes – from 10 thousand to 32 thousand euros – who have recovered the tax drag in full to at the expense of the medium-high ones with clear differences in treatment between categories of taxpayers, especially for employed workers.
The UPB also emphasizes that, in the same time frame, families with incomes below 35 euros obtained net benefits of 18,6 billion euros in the three-year period, excluding Irpef interventions. As regards, then, the productivity wageA favorable tax regime has been in place for at least 15 years, and is even set to be reduced to 1% by the budget currently being approved. We can say that the tax system—despite all the limitations denounced—has done its part in protecting income. Issues remain the exclusive responsibility of the social partners through national and decentralized bargaining: at the very least, the review of the mechanisms of the ratio between salary and cost of living and the procedures for the contract renewals upon their expiry, revisiting methods already negotiated but which have fallen through following the deterioration of industrial relations.
Internal conflicts within the majority
But the majority – regardless of the statements from the Prime Minister at the press conference – presents serious internal problems, and not only in international politics. The League's positions on the war in Ukraine could undermine much of the credibility Italy has earned on the international stage. These disruptive actions also occur in the economic sphere. Europe has been convinced by a majority of ratify the Mercosur treaty after 25 years of procrastination: a fundamental operation to find new markets sheltered from US tariffs (which, in the end, turned out to be less threatening than expected). The League seems intent on protecting the farmers' resistance. Also on the pensions The League has once again questioned key measures for the sustainability of the system, such as the automatic biennial linking of retirement requirements to increases in life expectancy. Unfortunately, on these issues, the opposition seems to be working for the King of Prussia, namely to support Salvini's positions.
