The composite economy: local politics and industrial change in contemporary Italy (original) (raw)

1996, Economy and Society

from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in the autumn of 1992. 3 Finally, open attacks on the state's authority by the Mafia and other organized crime syndicates, especially in the South, and the recent substitution of the traditional governing political parties (e.g. Christian Democrats and Socialists) with new, regionally-based parties (e.g. Leqa Nord, 4 Alleanza Nazionale and Forza Italia) have together reinforced the image of Italy as weak and unstable. Alongside these various political and economic crises, however, exists a second, more dynamic Italy. Although often obscured by the negative portrayals of the country, the existence of this second Italy is confirmed by a series of comparative statistics that indicate that Italy in the late 1980s outperformed most of its more "efficient" and "stable" neighbors in terms of growth of exports and GDP, labor productivity, firm profitability, investment in new machinery and equipment, and the accumulation of personal savings. 5 Italy's economic performance undoubtedly declined in the early 1990s, due to the global recession and the country's domestic difficulties, but its economy is still far more vital than most popular accounts would suggest. For example, in a variety of diverse sectors, including machine tools, automobiles, specialty steels, textiles and apparel, and ceramic tiles, Italian producers remain major exporters in world markets. 6