“Italy's entry into the euro was a mistake”. Ronald Dore, a ninety-year-old British economist who lives in the province of Bologna and who recently took part in the Nomisma meeting “How to awaken Italy from a coma?”, a dialogue between Romano Prodi and Bill Emmott, is convinced of this.
Dore was presented to the audience by Prodi with all the honors that a younger economist can bestow on his more expert and older colleague, but it was precisely from his friend that the feral thrust came.
“Dear Prodi – said Dore – your first government worked very effectively towards the objective of getting Italy into the euro and I, at the time, agreed with you. But today I am convinced that it was a mistake. It is a mistake that can still be corrected, but we have to retire”.
For Dore, in fact, exports are not enough to support Italy's economic recovery: it is also necessary to restart domestic demand, which however “will continue to remain stagnant if wages do not increase and if we continue along the path of restrictive policies. In times of emergency there is only one way forward: breaking the rules of public finance. Instead of reducing the deficit Italy should increase it, instead of issuing Treasury bonds it should print money to restart inflation and investments”.
The former prime minister took his friend's objections very seriously, but replied: “Exiting the euro would mean surviving only by producing low-cost second-class jeans. This is not the future I wish for us”.
Dore is probably largely inspired by the Japanese model, of which he is an expert. More precisely, his qualification is that of a sociologist specializing in Japanese economics and in the comparative study of types of capitalism. He is an associate of the Center for Economic Performance of the London School of Economics, a member of the British Academy, the Japan Academy and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
