A brutally frank view of the weaknesses of the Italian economy

Salvatore Rossi: Knowledge, innovation and relaunching the economy

Speech   by Mr. Salvatore Rossi, Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Italy, at the Almo Collegio Borromeo, Pavia, 17 March 2015.

Extract Only

" We now produce almost a tenth less than we did seven years ago:

 in manufacturing, 17 per cent less;

in construction, more than 30 per cent.

It is estimated that manufacturing lost one sixth of its productive capacity in this period. 

Net job destruction reached almost one million.

Last year, Italian firms invested overall a third less than seven years earlier.

As a whole, households spent 8 per cent less in real terms.

Exports have struggled to stay on an even keel.

The global financial crisis of 2007-08, followed by the European sovereign debt crisis of 2010-11, inflicted far greater damage on Italy's economy than on those of the other main advanced countries."

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