Debate at this National Interest Conference got underway with the observation that overcoming the social and economic divide between Northern and Southern Italy requires a profound rethink of intervention policies together with an overall return to efficiency and effectiveness in public action.
The opening premise of this roundtable discussion was that a differential of more than ten percentage points has separated Italy from the average growth rate of the eurozone countries over the last 10 years. Whilst the growth rates of some of these countries have now been revealed as unsustainable, based as they were on an escalation in private and/or public borrowings, it was acknowledged that a comparison with the growth of more virtuous countries, such as Germany and, in particular, France, is still unfavorable to Italy.
Federalism is now at the center of the Italian political debate, despite having been considered a heterodox if not inflammatory idea not even a decade ago. Reassigning roles and responsibilities among the different levels and bodies of government is a necessity shared by all advanced democracies given the increased complexity of our economies and of the relationship between citizens and the state.
The seminar, divided into three sessions, studied the main institutional economic and social causes holding back adequate growth in the South and its ability to reach the levels of growth seen in the North.
The participants in this talk-debate noted that by acknowledging the existence of various “Souths” in Italy rather than continuing to speak of “the South”, efforts have been made in recent years to mitigate the persistence of the serious and unresolved question of the South. The underlying hope has been that, by differentiating between the various areas of Italy’s Mezzogiorno, widespread change and gradual renewal might be encouraged to take root.
