Beautiful country, delicious gelato, bad economic policies. Sad.

The article raises some valid points, but sometimes it is just plain ridiculous. Illustrating the economic woes with worldwide problems of tax evasion and garbage disposal. Doesn't China have the same problems - yet they are thriving. Doesn't the US have the same problems? Reminder: an whole landmass of garbage in the Pacific, together with the institutionalized tax evasion for the rich called the "Bush tax cuts". Yet all you read about in American media is other countries' "inability to get their sh*t together". If you want failure, look at your own president.

So if FP thinks that America has it this bad then maybe it's time that someone needed to make a Decline Watch for Italy too.

If I were to sum up the theme of these apparently disparate problems, it seems to be a high value on taking what you can get and to heck with the community or the country; no sense of shared destiny or responsibility. Sort of Republicanism with a welfare state - not a good combination.

And contradictions - low birth rates, an aging population, but not enough jobs for the young? If this picture is true, there is no adjustment that would be sufficient to get Italy through the next 20 years - Italy needs revolution more than reform.

Great post, this fact is contrary information, that the world has seven billion people, while some countries are facing this crisis, other poor countries face a growing problem, hunger and disease caused by uncontrolled population.

This is very alarming for countries in Europe. Hope they will resolve the problem as soon as possible. starfall

The way Italy was governed in ancient Roman and pre-modern times is the key to understanding Italy, its strengths and its problems.

Southern Italy was made up of vast slave plantations called latifundia. Local good self-governance was never nurtured. Subsequent conquerers and rulers keep the peasants and city-dwellers in subservience, with organized crime as the most effective form of local self-governance.

Northern Italy was governed by orderly city-states with good civic life and practices. Due to the corruption of the capital in Rome these city states learned to govern themselves with a great deal of autonomy from Rome (but paying heavy tribute and needing the Imperial Army to protect them). Yes, the cities were oligarchies but every citizen was attached to one or another of the oligarchic famiiias. Familias were not nuclear or even strictly kin based but were organized from the grand patron/patriarch (who could be quite young) outward to many loyal citizens. Monastic and church establishments were also attached to one or another familia. Despite rivalries everyone had civic duties which they took seriously.

Rome was made up of many poor free citizens and slaves and, as we know, degenerated into a blood-lust culture. Later Papal rule and misrule destroyed the development of good citizenship.

Too much of Roman history focuses on the central government. We would be better served to study how well governed were the city-states of northern Italy, France and Spain.

Culture makes a difference in how a country is ruled. As we are seeing in the current ungovernability of the US (except as a military empire).

Nice collection of data, but you are dead wrong on why italy is in decline.
1. An over staffed buracracy that will litigate over meaningless detail with any person or company that needs their approval.
2. A civil court system in which a normal court case will take ten years or more to resolve, in which the judges in each case will certaunly change. Judges are rotated every 5 years. Since there are so many cases, the litigating parties and wittnesses never give testimony before the judge, but their testimony is recorded in long hand written statements prepared by both parties attorneys. A civil judge is expected to read these statements and then decide the case. If the judge worked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, he could not read 10% of these statements. Hence, no certainty of a fair decision. Would you like to do business in this legal enviroment, were it may take ten (10) years to collect a bill, and then with no certainty of outcome?
3.Over regulation and delay in the construction business. To put up a simple fence around residential property requires a suryor and a geologist and can take months for approval. That's right, a geologist.
4. A complicated and incredable long period of time for local regulations to be passed. They are always complex and incomplet leading to much delay and litigation.
5. An over zelious penal procecution system that will procecute any offence, no matter how small or irrelivant to the limit, while at the same time clogging the court system whereby serious crime goes unpunished because of the statue of limitation. A penal trial, no matter how small will take up to four years to be heard. Wittnesses will be called and will be heard over a period of years, with one wittness testifying one day and the next appearing 6 months later to testify, until all are heard.
There's more ,but this will do for a start..

Sadly, the future of Italy looks so bleak with no resources or money to invest in job creation. With 30% unemployment rate among youth (50% i am sure in some areas) , what will happen to the youth years down the road when they are still jobles?. Joblessnes and unemployment is dangerous for the well-being of an individual, the economy, as well as the culture. The government and the private sector must come up with a comprehensive strategy to employ more people. If not, the government will have to provide for 30% of the population down the road.

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As an x-labor law student near Palermo I can't agree more.
I was a part of exchanging from around the world.
I can't forget the loose working hours of the business there.

Im from singapore. I ordered a sofa here which needed to be made in Italy as it was customised (non-standard cover) in June and it will only arrive here in January next year. Italian inefficiency at a low level.

I think the problem of Italy is represented by its politicians, rather than to serve the interests of the country, and think only of their families are no longer able to live and ask for loans to keep going.prestiti veloci

I have Italian friends that keep me informed on the truth of the news and my internal state that Italy is in this situation because for about thirty years politicians have only their own business, corruption, illicit funds, and so on. The families are really in need I add that the loans are rising sharply protested (prestiti a protestati), because there are more and more workers without a job, we hope that this new government to do better than others.

In every economy revenues must match or exceed expenditures. Unfortunately in most countries, the politicians are more than willing to pass laws requiring expenditures but are unwilling to raise the taxes to support those expenditures.

The United States is a prime example of this. One of the first things the Bush administration did was lower taxes on their wealthy friends and large corporations. The second thing they did was go on an unpaid spending spree.

It was totally stupid to go to war in Iraq using borrowed dollars to pay for the war. It you want a war, at least have the guts to raise the taxes to pay for the war instead of borrowing the money to pay for the war.

Now the United States is in a mess as a result of these huge expenditures of the last eleven years that were paid for with borrow dollars. Corporations and wealthy individuals have made out like bandits over the last eleven years while the country is slowly heading for bankruptcy.

These problems will not go away until countries and politicians learn that expenditures must balance with income or spending must be paid for with higher taxes.gasrange

ChangS

When it comes to common urban population, there is a powerful feeling of civic pride to your own locale, along with a fierce rivalry with neighbors (which emerged in tries to divert grain shipments in one city to a different or petition emperors to grant them tax privileges over their neighbors). Unike using the upper classes, there is no feeling of patriotism nowadays in this one of the common people within the cities, who have been again a really diverse group. There is a feeling of loyalty towards the person around the emperor, who through the later empire was seen as an superhuman figure.

Italy is such a wonderful country that has so much to offer but it's corrupted from the root and poorly managed in recent years.