“Europe's problem is Europe. Our problems start in Brussels and sometimes in Frankfurt. That is the question. We have to completely reverse the policies because now the right arguments are being given to convince that populism is right". She said it the Minister of Economy, Pier Carlo Padoan in Davos during a debate on the “middle class”, underlining that in advanced economies and especially in Europe, middle class dissatisfaction, disillusionment with the future and disappointment with the prospects “are expressed by saying no to whatever political leaders suggest ” and in these conditions “finding solutions is more difficult than saying no”.
"Let me reassure - said Minister Padoan - that in Italy we are continuing the strategy of structural reforms" noting that sometimes "the media are not interested in the hard work of implementation that starts the day the reforms are announced". The advanced economies – he continued – and especially Europe the dissatisfaction of the middle class, the disillusionment with the future and the disappointment with the prospects "they are expressed by saying no to whatever the political leaders suggest" and in these conditions "finding solutions is more difficult than saying no".
“What we need, it is not only a policy but also a vision. Political leaders must have the courage to make difficult decisions that can be painful, but they must also have a vision. If this is not convincing, there will be no one to vote”, continued the Economy Minister.
The director general of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde also spoke in Davos. “It is time for political leaders to deeply rethink economic and monetary policies, in the face of the clear response of protest and disappointment of the middle class that comes from the political results in the US or Europe”. “It probably means that we need more redistribution of income than we have today,” Lagarde told a panel at the World Economic Forum.
