«Lobbies and political shortsightedness. This is how Italy doesn't grow"

The March 2024 Investing in Productivity Growth Report from the McKinsey Global Institute is merciless: Italy presents negative economic growth in the period 1997-2022. Other nations, classified as high income, do not show substantial growth (1%) but, nevertheless, show a positive sign. Italy doesn't. In almost a quarter of a century, the Bel Paese has shown all its limits of political, social, economic and financial vision. A Caporetto of the entire Italian system: the educational one (schools and universities), the entrepreneurial one, the political one (national and local), the control and criticism one (media). Lack of vision, decision-making skills, political culture. This is enough to disturb the night sleep and daytime thoughts of the economist Luca Solari, full professor at the State University of Milan.

Professor, in a recent post you spoke about the failure of the Italian system and the lack of growth. Are there any levers to reverse the current trend?

«The productivity gap is the real problem of our country. Today we are also experiencing it in terms of the impact on people's wealth. The levers start, first of all, from choices: we must understand that public investment must go into those areas where there is greater possibility of growth. This will mean sacrifices but sacrifices that must become selective. We must ask the public system for a guarantee of an investment with productivity growth objectives in any form of support. We can no longer afford to invest solely in the maintenance of assets as happened, for example, with the superbonus initiative."

Do you think that politics is solely responsible for this failure?

«No, politics is part of a system that is divided into many interest groups, many coalitions, often not completely visible because ours is a country that has never brought out the phenomenon of lobbying; Unfortunately, these opposing balances arise in public decisions. Italy is able to recover only when it reaches the deepest crisis. These components do not see the general interest and focus too much on the defense of the specific one. We need a profound cultural transformation in all our elites, managerial and political."

A few days ago the majority proposal on differentiated autonomy became law: in fact it represents the abandonment of the regionalism that has characterized our Republic. Will there be an advantage for everyone or only for the strongest regions? Sardinia?

«The problem is not in the choices regarding the institutional configuration. In our country we are unable to separate these decisions from considerations of electoral advantage. The fact that ours is a system strongly differentiated on a geographical basis is objective. The fact that there are unresolved issues related to growth and productivity differentials is a fact. The idea of increasingly separating those with resources who know how to make decisions from those who have not objectively demonstrated the ability to make decisions that go in the direction of development seems to be a response to electoral demands rather than to the needs for national change. . Sardinia, which is already a highly autonomous region, will be able to benefit, but local responsibility for decisions is also necessary and, above all, a transversal pact between political forces on a regional project. If I look at my region, Trentino-Alto Adige, beyond all the defects it may have had in the alternation, I find a transversal citizenship pact, that is, an overall vision and then small differences depending on who will govern".

This is the crux, the big problem of Sardinian politics. Now a look at foreign policy: will a stronger Europe help Italy to be more authoritative?

«Today there is no point in discussing the European structure, it would be madness. However, we need a stronger, more autonomous central structure that allows us to overcome a situation that is too hybrid between collective and specific needs. Here too, as in Italy, elites who have a vision, like the one that led to Europe, would be needed. For almost 70 years now we have had to make do with people who have a short-term vision. Italy needs it but perhaps it would need it less if, once and for all, it decided to define its own path within a European framework and not simply represent small needs linked to the reference groups of those who govern at that moment".

You know the United States very well where you have lived and worked. What do you foresee for the next elections? What is happening in countries close to us, such as in France with the advance of the far right or with the victory of Labor in England? Will world structures change?

«Trump's probable victory is taking shape. The Democratic Party must decide between two options: lose to Biden, a weak candidate, or lose to a candidate who gives a signal, a bit like Labor did by choosing a person atypical of tradition, who effectively expelled James from the party Corbyn who was one of the historic secretaries. Labor in the United Kingdom and the far right in France, together with the data on voter turnout, indicate a frightening disaffection with politics and at this moment I believe that there is a general perception of political vacuum, that is, there are no longer people who have a vision of the future and Europe, the World, needs a strong future perspective. At this moment we are somehow enveloping ourselves in a spiral that leads to an overall depression."

Simona De Francisci