Reinforcing the real economy: a new beginning for industry

The international financial crisis and its impact on the real economy have increased the need for decisive, coordinated action by international bodies, the EU and individual nations. The greatest concern is the existence of “panic” and “lack of trust” in the markets, which is indeed what is undermining the real economy all over the world. Many maintain that, in order to restore faith in the markets and therefore face the crisis, on one hand domestic consumption must be stimulated. On the other hand, an increase in the public demand is needed for investments in infrastructures. In particular, participants underlined the importance of financing investments in infrastructures partly through European funds – thanks to intervention by the EIB – and Eurobonds. In comparison to other countries, Italy has two strong points. First, the balance sheets of Italian banks show greater solidarity: their activities are primarily of the traditional type with little risk and with a limited rate of insolvency. Second, in Italy, private debt (of businesses and families) is low compared to the high public debt. The situation is the opposite in other countries – where there are low public debts and high private ones – which in this phase could lead to a greater increase of public debt than what might be expected in Italy.
The conference also underlined the fact that – in order to support domestic demand – more tools are needed to foster the growth of business productivity and help support employment. Businesses are also complaining of a restriction in credit lines that were previously granted and a disquieting difficulty in obtaining new credit. During the discussion, particular importance was given to the fact that private equity capital was an instrument useful for financing dimensional growth and investments for the development of small and medium enterprises, which must in turn create a new kind of relationship with management.
The Italian manufacturing industry is more competitive today than in the past. Exports of the major “made in Italy” sectors grew steadily until October. The productive fabric of our industrial districts, primarily made up of small and medium enterprises, is more flexible and has a greater capacity to create buffers for this critical phase. Finally, during the debate, many participants underscored the importance of small enterprises in the process of investment in research and development: the extent to which large companies commission smaller firms to conduct research is hardly ever mentioned.