The Governor of the Bank of Italy had already warned about the unsustainability of the citizen's income, so dear to the grillini who have made it a workhorse for some time. According to central bank studies, giving all Italians who are not working 500 euros a month for 12 months would cost approximately 20% of GDP, an enormous sum and clearly not sustainable from the state budget if not at the price of a fiscal blow unprecedented and war economy measures.
But the mayor of Naples, Luigi De Magistris, does not look at the accounts and wants to lead the way. In the electoral campaign he had promised the basic income to Neapolitans who are not working as urgent and had the maneuver approved in the municipal budget, even if it will only come into force next year.
But there's a problem: since not even De Magistris, who doesn't seem to care about the very low development of the city, has a magic wand and hasn't yet managed to get the money out of the hat that doesn't exist, paying the basic income will be the weakest and the poorest. As? By cutting services and raising taxes for the less well-off.
The municipal budget of Naples mercilessly cuts childcare services (45 million less), those for the disabled (18 less) and those for those at risk (47 less) and more generally all public services (11 down). Then the card increases, lowering the exemption threshold which in Milan is 21 euros a year but which in Naples will be much lower. Conclusion: plus taxes for incomes between 10 and 15 euros a year. Anyone who earns or has a pension of 800 euros a month will be taxed to finance the basic income of those who do not work and who will have no incentive to look for a job.
De Magistris calls it the "rebellion of popular and democratic communities" but such a maneuver should be called by its proper name: cheap injustice and demagoguery.
