Something Terrible Is Happening in Italy

Go to ground.news/explained to see through media bias and know where your news is coming from. Take advantage of their Black Friday sale to get 40% off unlimited access. Sale ends November 30.
Italy is in trouble... but this doesn't seem to be a new thing. With mountainous protection from the north and great trade connections through the Mediterranean sea, Italy has been in an ideal geographic position that has benefitted the country economically for millennia. After a decade of stagnation, can Italy boom like it has in the past, or is this time different?
This video was made possible by our Patreon community! ❤️
See new videos early, participate in exclusive Q&As, and more!
➡️ / economicsexplained
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
The Economic Explained team uses Statista for conducting our research. Check out their KZbin channel: / @statistaofficial
Check out our other channel Epic Economics → / @economicsexplainedess...
And our Language Channels →
WirtschaftsWissen (GER) - / @wirtschafts-wissen
L'Économie Expliquée (FRE) - / @economie-expliquee
Economia Explicada (POR) - / @economia_explicada
Economía Explicada (SPA) - / @economia-explicada
اقتصاد العالم (AR) - / @aqtisadalealam
経済会話 (JP) - / @keizaikaiwa
Enjoyed the video? Comment below! 💬
⭑ Enjoyed? Hit the like button! 👍
✉️ Business Enquiries → [e-mail]
🎧 Listen to EE on Spotify! 👉 open.spotify.com/show/5TFVUEJ...
Also on Apple Podcasts or anywhere else you listen!
#EconomicsExplained #EconomyofItaly #GroundNews
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
ECONOMICS EXPLAINED IS MADE POSSIBLE BY OUR PATREON COMMUNITY 👊🙏
Support EE by becoming a Patron today! 👉 / economicsexplained
The video you’re watching right now would not exist without the monthly support provided by our generous Patrons:
👑 ROYALTY CLASS 👑
Juan Benet
UPPER CLASS
Valkmit, Randall, Jeromy Johnson.
ELITE CLASS
Charles Youngs.
UPPER MIDDLE CLASS
Michael Wakim, Pineapples&bricks, Adrian Bellomo, Peter Wesselius, Michael Ling, Stephanie Roth, Frank Soltero, David Poliakoff, Jay Eno, Grégoire Duchêne, Sophie G, Brett Jubinville, Anthony Roberts, jill hoffman, Nathan Ngumi, JKH, Post Apocalyptic In Missouri, Laor Glukhovsky, Kib Bibens-LeFebvre, Forodon, Paul Ashworth, Wendover Productions, Andrew Harrison, Igor Bazarny.
MIDDLE CLASS
Justin Thiele, William Sherlock, Gerhardus, Derrick Yowell, DionysusLin, BUBBA CONWAY, Chris, Brian, Vladimir Zotov, Seth, Dragan Alexandru, Tenebrion, Jason, Alex Wong, Robert Abraham, Jamie Costello, Rick Van Velden, Leah Klearman, Bacongravy, Klaus Clemens, Ps0Fa, Abel, Eric Slimko, Empyre18, Brian Jackson, Istvan P, Leonid Sorokoumov, Thomas Davenport, Nicholas Luchetta, Kim Brand, Ted Marcy, Joshua White, John Issitt, Joe Ryan, Patrick Staight, Wees Kendall, Shane Guthrie, Andrew Baartz, Jim Kirker, Karan Mehta, roGER, Marton Csikos, Randy Cleary, Arjan, Liubov Zvereva, Michael D. Hall, Long Phan, Craig Mews, Kent Klatchuk, Zac Woodrell, Roman~1, Chris Hawkins, Wesley Fite, Robert Nyborg, David McIlveen, Anthony, Arend Peter Castelein, Daniel Alberto Vázquez Rodríguez, Kamil Sicinski, Dodd Willingham, Leo Vassershteyn, "How long can a profile name be... this long... Wow, this is longer than I would have expected. Good lord, the letters! Secunda!", Michael Kürbis, Hugh Harris, David W., Dar H, Will, Kheng Lai Tan, David Taylor, Scott Greenwood, Jane Walerud, Zachary Demko, Michael Wolff, Siegfried Eggl, PM, Jack Annear, michael, Franklin, Trevor, Marcel Roquette, Daniel Hall, Connor Costello, John D Tyler, Petronio Coelho, Kevin MacIntyre, Travis Thompson, Matthew Eggleston, Kenneth Lum, Andrew Vinnichenko, Zachary Kasow, Johannes, Reuben Field, Nigel Pauli, Jacob, AB3, Sridev, Matt McKee, Victor T., John C, Rimvydas, John Downie, Donald Wedington, Demo sthenes, Ed, Hayden van Reyswoud.

[@EconomicsExplained]

Go to ground.news/explained to see through media bias and know where your news is coming from. Take advantage of their Black Friday sale to get 40% off unlimited access. Sale ends November 30.

[@zreazzea]

👍

[@Lammot]

Pls, stop pinging on the edge of hearing when you pop up an icon on the screen. I keep thinking it's from my phone tucked away in some pants in another room. :) Ex: 0:36

[@alebado8664]

Georgia when?

[@fightforaglobalfirstamendm5617]

Why are you deleting my comments?

[@fightforaglobalfirstamendm5617]

End the eu empire! Save and free Italia!

[@robertsossi3186]

Having tried living and working in Italy during the 80s I encountered many stonewalls that prevented my upwards professional ambition. Primarily, Italy is not a meritocracy. Nepotism rules. Even to be considered for a mundane job like service station attendant or Night Porter you had to be well connected. Once in employment, pay rates as well as pay dates were "flexible". Companies adhere solidly to a hierarchical culture. One cannot question or cast doubt as to a senior colleague's decision or action. Showing initiative is deemed dangerous by your colleagues and immediate superiors. So it's little wonder that young graduates opt to move to another country or seek a cushy position in state employment. The state bureaucracy is to put it mildly, glacial.

[@aeloh1m]

That’s pretty much Argentina 🇦🇷 too.

[@Kaizzer]

@@aeloh1m Half of Argentina's heritage is Italian...

[@aeloh1m]

@@Kaizzer yeah, I'm doing the citizenship.

[@TheSpacecraftX]

I hear this a lot about the Ferrari F1 team but never imagined it could be applied generally.

[@granthuxham2491]

Essentially it is a Western State with Soviet work practice

[@Scholz.]

I’m young and moved to Italy in a skilled worker program (rientri di cervelli) just to find out that I couldn’t find a place more youth-unfriendly possible. It is like the country holds pride in stopping in time. I had to send a written letter by mail to cancel my internet service. This is the level of bureaucracy they hold for everything.

[@MGsyd]

But pizza is nice

[@heavydirtysaucexx9827]

Bro rientri di cervelli is bullshit, a trap, don't fall for it, stay where you are

[@sitaroartworks]

Yeah, we are pretty much fucked up.

[@ForaNakit]

Similar in Croatia. The problem is if they make bureaucracy more efficient, they will have to let go a LOT of people who don't know how to do anything else, so you would get a lot of, basically, untrained workers looking for a job that they don't know or can't do ( after sitting in the office for 25 years, you can't just go pick up the shovel and go to work on a field). Not to mention that it would look pretty bad in the next elections.

[@bethanalpha4544]

so you think the problem is sending mail letters instead of having digitalized? oh noes! poor thing :( I think the problem is not that, except for pricks like you. The real problem is finding a good job with decent money to start a family. Not sending mail letters

[@eddy6379]

Some of us (Italians) don't even understand our internal problems, but you did a great job from a macro prespective. It's worth subscribing to your Channel.

[@Ezekiel903]

he said the same about Spain, France, Germany, UK. beside that, not all can growth, if every country wants develop, were will build all the products? imagine if all countries on earth would growth, what would happen with resources, environment and were are the customer? in theory the developed countries alone could already provide enough for all, so if now other countries starts to manufacturing things too, who will buy all the stuff? or should we go back and every country protect their market by taxing foreign products?? unlimited growth is a myth!!

[@matteougolini-os7ux]

As an italian let me say thank you for this video. You reported properly the actual situation in the country. After graduated in college,many friends of mine and me moved to other european countries to have the chance to have a good life. Personally i tried to work in Milan but unfortunatelly the cost of living is too high compared to the wages. So,after six months i packed and moved to Ireland. I Hope so much the economy will recover in the next years but the low fertility rate and low productivity are not a good sign for the future

[@Joe-qu8uk]

I hope you did not end up in Dub in Amazon, Facebook or Google. Cause although the wages are high, that's slavery too.

[@andreachiari356]

Bro resta in Irlanda che vivi bene

[@zerothehero3426]

Non è che gli italiani siano non fertili è che semplicemente non mettono al mondo figli

[@revenants1300]

che commento italidiota @@andreachiari356

[@kissthetranslator4250]

Ciao ! Io purtroppo sono ancora bloccata in questo Paese del cavolo che è l'Italia, ho intenzione di trasferirmi all'estero e la mia prima scelta sarebbe proprio l'Irlanda. Come ti trovi ? Potresti fornire qualche dettaglio sulla vita lì ?

[@me0101001000]

I lived in Germany for a year. So many of the friends I made were Italian. I heard on and on about how they make more money, are treated better, and are generally happier in Germany than in Italy, bureaucracy aside. One of my closer friends told me how she never wants to go back because there is nothing left for her in Italy. If that's not heartbreaking, I don't know what is.

[@salzkasten]

How horrible Italy must be that you feel better in GERMANY of all places...

[@MagicMike_101]

Latin culture sucks.

[@ABC-ABC1234]

@@salzkasten Unlike Italy, Germany actually still pays SOLID salaries! Mind you, so many Germans have Masters and PhD's and Post Docs, and unlike other nations their high tech industry is NO JOKE! Even if you have an apprenticeship and enter a company you earn a decent living wage. The salaries of Medical Doctors (of all professions!!!) are HORRIBLE and RIDICULOUS in ITALY! All well educated Italians I know have either migrated out of Italy or planning to migrate the F outta Itally!

[@salzkasten]

@@ABC-ABC1234 I am German and our salaries suck compared to the real high tech countries. (Judging from my IT Background) But that is mostly due to ridiculous taxes and levies on our income, dont get me started on the german bureaucrazy eating your last bit of sanity. If you can dont come here, rather go directly to the US or Switzerland/Luxembourg.

[@theteamxxx3142]

@@salzkasten it's because of salaries trust me if italy had germany salaries every italian would consider it the best place on earth but again it's always greener elsewhere and globalization makes us think that my country isn't doing well ? i can always go elsewhere something that was way harder 100 years ago (but people still did it in america )

[@MaggieDiMenna]

I‘m currently in my last year of university here in Milan, and I think the fact that Italy continues to lose its graduates is a big issue but I don’t see it getting fixed anytime soon. For example, my boyfriend studied as a programming engineer but did not end up taking a job in Milan because the pay is so low, he wouldn’t even be able to pay the monthly rent on a one bedroom apartment in Milan, however in Switzerland (Ticino) he makes 4x more than he would have in Milan and his rent is actually LESS than a similar apartment in Milan. Now that I’m looking for internships, I’m looking more towards Switzerland as well since in Italy most internships are not paid while in Switzerland they are.

[@johnsnow145]

It’s sad. I know so many people who went to university in Bologna. Not a single one would live in Italy. Or consider having family there. There’s very few young women that stay. Which means young men will also leave. There’s a massive immigration problem. The laws are too strict. The culture just doesnt seem to be like it was 20 years ago. It’s less Italian. I suggest the PM legalizes pot stores. That will attract many young educated American w/ Italian ancestors (and yes we care about Italy!) and stimulate the economy. And yes theres a lot of us here that would consider Italy if they would update their pot laws and create incentives for us. Otherwise let the Italians enjoy their new little Africa

[@nitishkumarjurel241]

​@@johnsnow145what are pot laws?

[@johnsnow145]

@@nitishkumarjurel241 medicinal marijuana. Similar to Amsterdam but would require a liscense to purchase at a designated pharmacy. Millions of young American men choose their school and work location based on access to this in USA already. It provides hundreds of million in state tax annually across the US. It also draws young employment from all over the country. It would be a big deal if Italy took part in this booming industry

[@jessieraykeaton3777]

College is useless in the field of useful applications of work.

[@lucyd.5001]

States where legal recreational marijuana has been approved@@nitishkumarjurel241

[@kiraleskirales]

I am from Italy, now living in continental Europe. My experience is that prices are comparable, salaries are at least twice as high where I live. Most of my contacts still there barely survive with what they get from a full time job. Here, you can have opportunities as a young person. Responsibilities, consideration. In Italy, young people are exploited and feared. The old guard won't let you innovate, make mistakes, learn. They won't be challenged. If the population is old, Italian voters are even older. From politics to economics, from industries to families, all the power in society is in the hands of previous generations who don't really care about a future they will not see. I went away from Italy because there is no intention of building a better future for the country, no long term investment, no hope. Everyone just takes what they can before the whole country collapses.

[@matemayer4850]

where in Europe do you live now?

[@KayJay01]

FYI Continental Europe includes Italy. Continental Europe typically means Europe minus the UK, Ireland, Iceland and Scandinavia (and Finland), as in excluding the areas of Europe typically only accessed by sea.

[@matemayer4850]

@@KayJay01 I know what continental Europe means, but you didn’t answer the question which European country are you living now. Looks like you are avoiding a simple answer.

[@KayJay01]

@@matemayer4850 I’m not the same person you replied to, lol.

[@Gravity6210]

@@KayJay01maybe they lived in a island of off Italy. Hence why they used “continental Europe”.

[@LorenzoRace]

I'm Italian and regarding technological backwardness, I can tell you that at the University of Milan (one of the largest and most famous in Italy), researchers work with machines operating on Windows 95 (I swear). Not to mention the public administration, where employees don't even know how to move a file to the trash or create new folders.

[@Ezekiel903]

Swiss here, you know that Germans have surpassed the Italian in Swiss? every year more and more Germans are living their country, next France, they say the same about their country! but Italians are the worst when it comes to criticize their country. Why you think so many Germans are living Germany??

[@infinity-rh2je]

i'm italian and that's what my teacher made us learn last year when i was in my fiest year of high school

[@vladislavvelizanin5057]

Sounds a lot like Spain to me as well. A very developed economy with a high quality of living, but few possibilities for young people to work their way up to the top. Being a kid with well-to do parents, financially secure in their 40s-50s and with a plot of ancestral land, must be wonderful in either of this. Being old and retired in your villa is just the best experience in the world. Being a young parent without any property, looking to start your career, is literally almost impossible and definitely not worth it. That's why the birth rates are low and the young people are moving elsewhere.

[@misterx6209]

Also not easier in Austria right now except we have a very cold climate in winter.

[@lilolmecj]

Can it be accidental that every government world wide has been engaged in policies that are not in the best interests of their citizens for at least fifty years? Internationally every advanced country has undercut its own industries , cooperating with sending work off shore in a search for cheaper goods, with no long term interest in domestic stability.

[@worldpeace8187]

​@@lilolmecjI have only read a couple post so far but agree there seems to be a trend here. Why would these countries be so short sited?

[@alejandramoreno6625]

@@misterx6209 I remember a friend in Austria who said that the only way of getting a job as a pharmacist there was to marry into it. It seemed medieval to me.

[@obsidianjane4413]

You work your way to up when those above you die. You inherit your plot of land from those old relatives you take care of/put up with. This takes far more time than modern society accepts.

[@alessandrocerioli2151]

As many other members have pointed out as a matter of fact Italy stopped growing AFTER they abandoned the automatic wage actualisation in the 80s, today Italian companies expect new graduates to work FOR FREE so the spiral is indeed real but it works exactly in the opposite way this video tries to prove. No actualisation-> poorer workers-> employers want to pay new generations less-> consumes tumble-> people cannot afford to have children-> geriatric society-> the few young people are paid even less-> no children at all. This is how a country dies.

[@galactichitchhiker_]

Italy stopped to grow in the late '60, '70 were a lost decade and in the '80 the decline started, having inflation to 25% is bad for the industries, buying votes increased the debt is bad for public badget, a too low retire age will steal young people salary. Now is too late to do anything, sometimes countries die in flow of history.

[@alessandrocerioli2151]

@@galactichitchhiker_ you clearly don't have a clue about what you're talking about: in the 80s the Italian economy was bigger than the British one, the issue was that the people who enjoyed that boom have been in power since the early 90s and don't want to retire. They still think we are in the 80s and they are still proposing their failed economic model based on micro-enterprises, low to no R&D investments, low added value products, "black" work and salaries" compression to the point they expect people to work for free....and I ain't joking.

[@galactichitchhiker_]

@@alessandrocerioli2151 Using as example UK is wrong because they were in the '70 in a awful economic condition but thanks to Thatcher governments they reformed, in Italy never happened. In the '80 wasn't no economic boom: inflation to the roof, unemployment too, the only thing that was booming was the public debt. How a Italian company could made R&D in the '80 when the bank interest for a loan were over 18%, in Germany were 6-8%, was the apocalipse for all Italian big companies the ones that create innovation, competitiveness and high salaries.

[@alessandrocerioli2151]

@@galactichitchhiker_ I am talking about the 80s, and Thatcher left the UK is worse shape that she received in 1979. Everything that you write is BS, about Italy AND the UK.

[@galactichitchhiker_]

@@alessandrocerioli2151 You first said that UK was poorer than Italy in '80 but then that Thatcher ruined UK's economy but UK is now richer than Italy, something is wrong in your reasoning.

[@natetabormusic]

Trying to start a new business in Italy is incredibly difficult. The tax sytem is so complicated and riciculous, its no wonder that most business simply go into the grey market. I am a violin maker, which is the second oldest profession in Italy, and even a tiny little business with one employee really could not exist and expand if everything was done properly. Most small business simply move to another E.U country with a less barbaric tax system. etc. Its actually quite sad.

[@commenter4190]

it's not the italian tax system who is "barbaric" (see the scandinavian level of taxes before talking about Italy), it's the italians who when they can, they ALWAYS try to NOT PAY the taxes!

[@StefSubZero270]

@@commenter4190 Clown comment, you must not live in Italy i guess, either that or you are just running your mouth for no reason

[@natetabormusic]

@@commenter4190 well try and start a small business in Italy. just see how that goes. GOOD LUCK! haha

[@tann_man]

@@commenter4190 It is everyone's moral imperative to when they can NOT have their labor forcibly confiscated by goons with guns. Everyone should be more like the Italians.

[@dinosgura]

@@commenter4190 I suspect you're the usual italian leftist that is trashing our beatiful country with the usual bs about "tax evasion".

[@BG-ej5fy]

I recently visited Italy and I had the best time of my life. Such a beautiful country with great food and great people. I hope it turns it around economically

[@dagmarvandoren9364]

Visit. Not living.....and you had the funds. To visit....also Taylor swift.....you did not need to work there.....danke

[@hexgraphica]

We're pretty much maxed out economically without some extra ordinary source of wealth (oil, capital, manufacturing monopoly...). We'd need to move on socially first but the fear of making some wealthy pensioner cry holds us hostages

[@Antreus]

@@hexgraphica the problem with pensioners reminds me of the classic painting of Saturn Devouring His Son

[@user-hi3jg2vf3h]

Tourism is not the same living in a country , pay taxes need public services etc

[@user-hi3jg2vf3h]

@@dagmarvandoren9364exactly I hate tourist who thinks they know the economy and life in a country after an one week trip

[@coconuts2361]

Just an example of the "advanced economy" in Italy. To get my parking place in an underground city parking lot next to my home I had to personally visit four different city offices, bringing photocopies of all my documents, and filling up manually paper forms. In other european countries you do all of this online with one click. The Italian City Hall does not even have a list of residents - you must bring them a photocopy of your Id card which THEY themselves issued. They are beyond hopeless.

[@36flamingo63]

You ("first world") are too lucky... But a minimous part of the (real) World is like you are, and you are in good conditions certainly not only for your merit and ability, but just for your LUCK (exploited colonies, great availability of raw materials, vastness of space and possibilities). And the huge part "that has no hope" survives the DIFFICULTIES much better than you lucky ones.

[@lisette2060]

​@@36flamingo63quit the leftist blame game! Your colonies are still better off than the rest of a hopeless lazy and corrupt African societies.. Just start on your own, instead of leeching on hard working Whyte Mens achievements! Good luck 💪

[@NazriB]

Lies again? Jackal Wolf Driver Chauffeur

[@missouriresole4726]

Pretty much like Germany

[@bgdx.5049]

And this is happening TODAY, when all former Central + East European countries are getting digital fast! Looks indeed beyond hopeless.

[@lookouthill11]

A cousin married an Italian woman and after speaking to her about work my mind was blown. She worked for her aunt, an office job, and hadn’t been paid for more than a year but said she could never speak to her aunt or anyone else at work about it. She lived with her parents so contributing to rent wasn’t expected. It blew my mind! She was just hoping one day soon they’ll start paying again.

[@ivansciacca7810]

My fiancé found a second job, because the first one she does not get paid from her father (even with a legal contract saying he should) but refuses to say anything about that. Italy is a magical place my friend...

[@Tribuneoftheplebs]

Thats worse than slavery. At least they were given food and a bed 🤣🤣 she gets literally nothing for full time labor

[@Laretz]

Yeah here in Italy we generally avoid talking about our earnings, it’s a huge taboo (probably because of the tax fraud committed by many, as the video shows)

[@vascoapolonio2309]

Working with family is not a good thing. Guilt and love always walk hand-in-hand, mostly in very religious and backwards countrys

[@Toothily]

One could consider that financial abuse, yikes

[@angelomariano9494]

IT'S NOT THE TAXES, BUT THE PEOPLE. As an Italian, who just spent one year in JAPAN, when I compare ROME to TOKYO, I see for the latter: clean streets, great pride in doing any kind of work, respect for other people properties, courtesy in offices and stores, etc.

[@Groove838]

Japan demographics are even worse than that of Italy.

[@cesq]

As an Italian, this video is insanely accurate and the curious thing is that almost none of us can see the situation as clear as you did. Common mindset here is "everything sucks, take what you can in any way" or leave. And I relate with all the comments around here

[@itsshrimpinabag9544]

The correct grammar is, "As an Italian, I can say that this video is. . ." or "As an Italian, I find this video. . ."

[@cesq]

@@itsshrimpinabag9544 sorry about that, I'm learning english by myself and sometimes I make mistakes. Thank you for the correction :)

[@itsshrimpinabag9544]

You are semplicemente bravissimo! Very smart! Keep learning! :) @@cesq

[@carloalbertofloris1831]

I left Italy almost 10 years ago, one week after graduated, and everything it's still the same as I left it, if not worse. The country is not in stagnation, it's hibernated!

[@tuscanland]

Lasciato l'Italia nel gennaio del 2000, ogni volta che torno vedo le cose peggiorate. Le paghe erano, a parita' di professione, maggiori negli anni 80/90, rispetto a quello che sono ora. Il parco macchine e il territorio ne sono i testimoni.

[@tyhg22]

the major influence on most aspects of Italian society is inertia

[@carssucksince1800s]

@@tuscanland The wages are lower in US as well, especially when taking inflation (greed) into consideration. I think Italy, while currently is not doing well in our economy, is actually ahead of the world in terms of what the future society will live like, where money don't matter. It is a utopia like idea that we can be productive without money and grow, but if we don't think of it in current economy dependent society, where certain players are hungry for more power, it would actually be feasible and more productive than it is today.

[@tuscanland]

Impara a esprimerti correttamente in inglese prima di sfoggiare la tua bravura. @@carssucksince1800s

[@antonyjh1234]

I left my country 35 years ago and it hasn't either, the same thing could be said about any country other than India and Africa are going to see growth population wise. 23 countries are going to lose 50% of their population by 2100 due to old age in a system that relies on growth. Italy started before everybody else. The older people could have their house paid off, a garden, friends, grandkids etc, poverty just because of a lack of spare money doesn't necessarily make you poor. * China is going to lose 5-600 million over the next 80 years

[@posthocprior]

The GDP charts of France and Spain - only two examples - are very similar to Italy’s. That is, there has been a period of roughly 15 years of stagnation. The reason this may be important is that there may be a trend, among developed countries, of slowing economic growth and rising inequality. In other words, the problems that Italy’s economy faces may be faced by many developed economies.

[@Lubossxd]

agree with this. the growth for everyone can't go forever so only the most clever and the greediest will keep their momentum

[@KommentarSpaltenKrieger]

Even if you look at 'well-performing developed economies', they can't expect much growth even in the best of circumstances. And this has been true for decades. It is less talked about in everyday discourse than it should be, but it is absolutely acknowledged among economists, at least if we take notice of accounts such as that from Thomas Piketty. However, even small growth is highly preferable to no growth, so aiming for some of it will pay off if we let enough time pass. And even those with strong growth in a short time can be outcompeted by those with small but more sustainable growth if you let enough time go by.

[@jonathan2847]

​@@LubossxdYes it can, see the technological progress in the last decade.

[@thorH.]

@@jonathan2847you are right. US GDP is still growing. Germany mostly grew because of higher employment rates.

[@eVill420]

@@KommentarSpaltenKrieger Money is just one thing, having things in place, safety and infrastructure is also wealth. money not exchanging hands 0.4% more than last year doesn't have to be a bad thing. Even a country like France which has technicalyl been plateauing for 15 years the people have gotten wealthier thanks to technology

[@JuanSanchez-rb4qu]

You forgot a KEY factor here which is Italy's really high tax rate compared to other countries even in the eurozone. This is why there's so much tax evasion, its not just culture but the fact that which such high taxes you can't even break even let alone make a profit. This is what Laffer's curve is all about, if taxes are too high people stop paying them, its that simple.

[@ugolattanzio9152]

Problem is, this creates a loophole. People don't pay taxes because of their heaviness > taxes raise even more for those who pay regularly

[@JuanSanchez-rb4qu]

@@ugolattanzio9152 Yes, however the way to counter this is lowering the taxes while raising the fines for tax evasion to reverse this trend.

[@AtmaGoa]

THANK YOU @@JuanSanchez-rb4qu

[@brunacardoso5887]

thank u for speaking out about this. I'm a teenager from Italy and here there's nothing for me, especially with the new government (Meloni) who took away even the few economic bonuses we used to buy school supplies. I already decided that as soon as I finish school I AM MOVING. It's hard to survive with a full time job as a young adult, they don't take us seriously cause their mentality it's still 80's-like, when your parents could afford to help you out if they wanted to. The school system it's even worse. Last week a 14 year old threw himself out the school's window because of the stress he was feeling. I personally study every day at least 6-7 hours a day (after school hours) and still get called a failure by my teacher's who are absolutely terrible (professionally). It's all going downhill and sadly I think my beloved country is never recovering.

[@francescomasiero7285]

Guarda che le tasse alte che ci sono attualmente in Italia stanno venendo utilizzate per recuperare il debito pubblico e per finanziare nuovi progetti, attualmente l'economia italiana è in netta crescita

[@askadia]

The problem of Italy, in my opinion, is the very high quantity of small companies that stay competitive only by exploiting workers: low salaries, many hours per week, and often unpaid overtime. They suck up workforce and resourses just to barely stay alive. In my opinion, people should stop working for a misery, and let those companies fail.

[@Theanimeisforme]

then what? hope the chaos gives you a good roulette roll?

[@askadia]

@@Theanimeisforme if you want to work as a modern slave, help yourself, it's all yours.

[@siegfriedvankonul3893]

@@askadia ah yes, because companies like Tesla or Amazon do not absolutely squeeze their workers to be even more rich Your "opinion" is garbage, keep it for yourself next time

[@Theanimeisforme]

@@askadia I guess when you're consumed and trapped by your own failure, your own lack of foresight, you may end up seeing the end result as slavery.

[@freakalmighty2533]

@@Theanimeisforme I don't understand how a human can respond to "companies are exploiting workers by paying them a pittance, sometimes not paying them at all" (which is a reality in Italy) in the way you've been responding so far.

[@chemicheto]

I studied my master's in italy with hopes of staying, however burocracy and elitism in the country make it way too hard for young foreigners to work in italy

[@scottandrews947]

Yeah, I received dual citizenship through my grandfather with the intention of living and working in Italy. Once I moved there, I quickly realized that it wasn't a great place for younger people (especially younger foreigners).

[@v1pogio118]

also for young italians to actually work in italy, majority of people including myself want to emigrate asap

[@maherprakash4725]

Yeah I agree I did the same and didn't stay there

[@SokiHime]

Good. Italy is for Italians.

[@gazo11]

yeah they prefer petting dogs instead of having child so italy is for africans now

[@Nick-rs5if]

I've read and seen reports from the Allies during WW2 about Italian vehicles, weapons and especially tanks that, while the equipment in question was often sub-par to their Allied counterparts in terms of function and utility. Due mostly to the lagging industry focused mainly on craftsmanship over mass production. The equipment and components were always praised for being made to a very high standard in both quality and durability. That we still hear about Italian quality to this day is indicative of a rich tradition and culture of skilled craftsmanship. Something anyone ought to be proud of, in my opinion. Italy is such a beautiful country. I hope their future will be bright.😊

[@francisstjohn2194]

Grazie! For the good wishes. Despite the name I'm Italian living in Italy.

[@giansala7409]

Thank you friend !

[@Skritza]

I'm glad you can call them simple questions and I greatly appreciate you enlightening us all!

[@samuelpezzetta7084]

Visiting Italy is amazing. Living in Italy is hard.

[@MagicMike_101]

I agree. The country is in the pace to tourism become the first source. And sustain whoever works with it.

[@riccardob7774]

I guess you will have to specify what living in Italy means to you. Because cost of living in Italy is 1/4 of the US, you have (almost) free healthcare, no student loans, and you have access to some of the most beautiful cities in the world. Traveling in Europe is also cheaper than the US. So if you said just “living” I don’t think it is representative. If you’re talking about someone trying to work and pay rent in Milan, with two kids, maybe you’re right. But it is not representative of the whole.

[@coprilettodelnapoli5466]

​@@riccardob7774you can't compare Italy with three world country like usa, bro...

[@riccardob7774]

@@coprilettodelnapoli5466 Beh!, in certi casi l’America è parte del terzo mondo. Si vive meglio in Italia, fidati.

[@tarekben5524]

which is the stupidest thing ever. Like they could control weather and other natural events to keep the climate stable for profits. Sure.@@MagicMike_101

[@CyriacS]

I work in the Middle East and I can confirm that I meet a higher than expected number of Italian expats relative to other nationalities... it's a shame that Italy can't break through its old ways. The country is so rich geographically and culturally...

[@conversiamo]

I'm an Italian living abroad. I moved over 20 years ago. I work remotely and go back to my country quite often. There is a lot of wealth that escapes taxation and plenty of wealthy people who pay zero taxes. The amount of nice cars, houses, well dressed people and time spent on holiday and travelling by my compatriots tells a different story. It's true though that life is expensive and lots of young people find it impossible to move up the rankings of a small corporate structure, well described in this video. In bocca al lupo a tutti.

[@user-bd6ln8gp3f]

U live in America or somewhere? Cuz these countries are not perfect either.

[@kats7930]

I subbed to ground news thanks to you, and actually love it. Hope it supports you and your wonderful work. 😊

[@marcobonesi6794]

italian here. The main problem is the decrepit demography. All the other problems are just a consequence. High unemployement because we have to pay massive taxes to pay the mostly undeserved pensions of the elders that are also too many,high debt because most voters won't be alive when we'll be forced to pay it back and uncompetitive economy because even most workers are in their 50s and their way of thinking is usually outdated and in fact the hate technological progress because they do not understand it. In fact the reduced control over our currency is a blessing ,because the government can't print money like in argentina. In the end,italy is the proof that a democracy with universal suffrage ,elderly voters and too many people that live off public expenditure is not sustainable.

[@SkylearJ]

Thus why we like republics.

[@fortunatoazzara]

Non avrei saputo spiegarlo meglio, il problema è che non cambierà nulla, la maggioranza degli elettori sono vecchi e votano per i loro interessi, mentre i pochi giovani rimasti pensano ad andare all'estero prima che la barca affondi.

[@marcobonesi6794]

@@fortunatoazzara i primi anni 30 saranno bestiali. Andrà in pensione la generazione nata fra il 65/75. La più numerosa di sempre in italia. Collasserà tutto allora,perchè avremo troppi pensionati .

[@MsMimo07]

Yeah, Europe is doomed^^ I'm German but I don't plan on spending the rest of my life here paying the pensions of the oder generations while getting nothing in return.

[@hobbes1887]

Amen, bro.

[@CMVBrielman]

16:45 There’s a story that, at one point, Naples was the de facto boot capital of the world (ignore the geography pun), producing the most premium boots anywhere. According to the tax records though, not a single boot was made in Naples. Take the story for what you will, but it is demonstrative.

[@vicesig]

Purses too. But they did not own the brands, so everything was made through the big firms name that gave the artisan job to small indipendent laboratories that took little from the chain of value.

[@jamesmoore381]

What year/s?

[@swoppydo3794]

it could havee happened anywhere...

[@jag12549]

I love how you give well broken down explanations of things without opinion and without the snide pretentiousness of the guy on Economics Explained

[@nicknickbon22]

Definitely a very good and researched video, definitely better than the previous one, where important aspects like industry size were not considered.

[@lemorragia87]

As an italian in my late-thirties, living in one of the most productive part of italy (and of europe) i say "good" (aka "f**k it"). I'm completely exhausted and frustrated by continuous short-sighted policies always aimed at "today's satisfaction" by selling out our future. It's been going on from the 80's, but the overall theme is always "let's not worry about tomorrow's problems". Last years "reddito di cittadinanza"(kind-of-a-UBI-the-italian-and-populist-way) and "110%" (a real estate law aimed at keeping up the economy post-covid) were crazy expensive and completely insane/populist-driven. They created a crazy market situation which persists even now: inflation is skyrocketed as well as house prices(and basically everything else), all of this in an environment where we have the highest taxation in europe (oecd-data, higher than norway if i remember correctly), the wages from 1990 have gone down (unique country in europe with this problem, also oecd data), and the welfare state is slowly (but surely) being diminished by the fact that we struggle with our debt and decades of "living beyond our actual means". So pensions are probably "won't existent" for young people (and me...they are already talking about pensioning age above 75 years in the future), public healthcare is being slowly privatized, etc. This means that in a few years/possibly a couple of decades we will theoretically have the highest taxation ever (compounded with the ageing population), almost no public service, and most of the brightest people will have migrated elsewhere in the world...good luck having italians paying for that, i'm sure they're not gonna do it and we will have to be bailed out...shame, shame, shame on us. I'm in IT and you wanna know a statistic? we had a university-class dinner at some point, and we were 28 at the table...26 of them are now living abroad. I could give a hundred examples like this...in the end i'm not blaming "the government" as many people do...the government is just a mirror of people mindset...it's our "no worry about problems/tomorrow" mentality at large, the real problem....we'll see. Good luck italy! You sure won't have my children for this massive ponzi-scheme!

[@redsandokan]

mamma mia, gia mi sentivo deppresso sta mattina, pero hai 100% rag

[@marcorabbione3765]

Being in your same situation I 100% agree, expecially your view on where the problems stand. Politicians are just a reflection of who we are.

[@rscaht]

Siamo costretti abituati ad analizzare le nostre pene e le nostre colpe che un discorso lucido come questo pare ovvio . Ma è solo un'analisi , solo una ... Crederci è quanto mai pericoloso .

[@1370802]

There are lesser versions of all these problems throughout the developed world. I think the root cause is that as people live longer, the elderly vote for politicians that support them at the cost of young people, so young people get screwed over the most.

[@ArnyWar]

Ne ho 30, lavoro da 10 e sto valutando seriamente di andarmene dall'Italia. La situazione è insostenibile da anni

[@SimoNe-lc6rr]

You described italian economic and financial problems as an italian specialist would have done. I never saw anything like that made by a foreigner. Congratulations on your data collection and elaboration.

[@VCC1316]

Nah, the Italian specialist would have said that the small companies are the diamond of the Italian's economy (that is the consoling narrative). While here it is shown how they are a drag

[@tattianasalles3019]

There is an Italian economist called Lorenzo Codogno who wrote a book about Italy's Economic Decline in the past 30 years. According Codogno research the decline of italian economy is related to the lack of meritocracy. Connections, rather than merit, are a long-standing feature of italian economy. This became a significant problem when Italy's economy could no longer grow due to imitation, devaluation, and public debt, and faced the challenges of becoming a frontier knowledge-based open economy, like Germany, Sweden, Netherlands and other European nations. I am from Brazil and everything I read about italian economic issues remember me our neighbors in Argentina. Brazil was never a developed country, but Argentina was once a very rich country which went into a slow and deep decline for reasons similar to the Italian ones.

[@JayGiuriati]

This video is so well done that left me speechless! Congrats.

[@ThomasZadro]

Thanks for this. It is a blessing to hear about Italy's problems without hearing once that it is all Germany's fault (a narrative that is often driven by Italian populists). Anyhow, Italy is a fantastic country with immense potential and - god knows how - always find a way. This is one of the reasons I admire this country.

[@m-faccin]

Come to visit our country. Please 😁

[@Oceansta]

Italian narrative is that it's Germany s fault? How? 😅

[@churblefurbles]

@@Oceansta EU is pure distortion.

[@eVill420]

@@Oceansta because deflecting from your problems and inventing opposition is a classic trick rulers use

[@marcoac-sx6lq]

@Oceansta because Euro favours German export while it's a too strong currency for the Italian economy. So Germany became richer while Italy poorer due to the common currency, as well as other European laws

[@Nagria2112]

this truely shows that high GDP doesnt mean money for people. it just means Value is created, NOT how its shared between all people

[@tubularmonkeymaniac]

Isn't it wonderful reading about a 'resurgent' economy, lower unemployment, and 'higher than expected' growth while most of us are still struggling to pay for fuel. It's become completely meaningless. We need a Quality of Life index to aim for, not an arbitrary growth figure.

[@sitaroartworks]

In fact we are the worst european country in terms of salaries and underpaid rates but hey, what is counting for the politicians right now is to tell to the rest of the world that employment is better than the past year. It's the naive, limited vision that they wants to keep that makes the difference once you live in and know about.

[@cochazza]

Yep, just think about the messina strait bridge. It already cost italy millions and millions of preliminary study, only study, not even survey nor preparatory work. This because the project has been done and redone multiple times by different subjects who where more "friends" to the then-appointed government. And all of this (and many similar instances) still goes into the GDP

[@gabrielaruweramaral7168]

Great great content! Thanks! I am not native English speaker and struggled a little to understand because of the accent, but luckily there were subtitles

[@hr2079]

Great analysis. Thank you for sharing

[@scacchiereglobale]

As an italian, I appreciate this video 🙃. I think the problems now are worse than in the past...

[@hariskhan01]

Italy is still an awesome country and way better than my country Pakistan and of course most developing economies, but at least in growing economies we have more opportunities, Italy can bounce back on tourism and Automation is the only way to growth for a declining populace.

[@theethicsofliberty4642]

If what the Government collects from taxes is not enough to sustain the government why not shrink the government reducing government spending. Is it a sin to shrink the government reducing its weight on the economy, cutting of red tape, reducing cost of living. These alternatives are almost never debated due to the insistence on expanding the Government Social Welfare System.

[@vbrotherita]

@@scacchiereglobale As a fellow countryman expat in a bordering country, I second that.

[@scacchiereglobale]

@@casumarzu-fr2zn no, italian from Italy

[@scacchiereglobale]

@@vbrotherita 👍 Svizzera?

[@pasqualescarmozzino9876]

This is perfectly on point. In my opinion Italy is almost impossible to reform since everyone has a rent of some sort in the status quo. Any reform would mean losing the private rent with the risk of not being compensated from the possible gains brought by more growth. Add in the risk aversion of a mostly old population and you can see why it's hard to exit this bad equilibrium.

[@RaggamuffinFreeGranp]

Yes I think you made a point. But if nobody will crack the status quo, it will crumble under the wheels of history

[@knightheaven8992]

@@RaggamuffinFreeGranp its going to happen, and its not unique to italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece have very similar problems

[@justineseiferth8010]

​@@RaggamuffinFreeGranp What will that crumbling result in though? An economy like India or Niger? Will regulation's fall by the wayside and the EU set the country aside? There will be a revolution, eventually, but in what form? I can see Northern Italy divorcing itself from the south personally and the south becoming like it's neighbors to the east.

[@tommyfanzfloppydisk]

@@justineseiferth8010 i think governments need to be remembered that even if most eu countries citizens refuse violence, we are still the continent where revolutions took places during monarchy times.

[@RaggamuffinFreeGranp]

@@justineseiferth8010 I don't think a revolution will come, just a progressive loss of all the wealth and welfare our grandparents fought for. Italians are famous to get through difficult times with courage and ingenuity ('arte di arrangiarsi'), but the social tissue we have been building for decades will be torn apart and everybody will be on their own

[@viniciussrs100]

love the editing etc... but when showing data, charts etc, can you keep it longer on the screen so we can properly read it? thanks

[@DiarioCarnivoro]

Great analysis! Very in-depth and super accurate.

[@tuqe]

If an economy requires workers to be constantly disadvantaged (ie unpinned wages) for it to achieve its goals, then one must ask if that economy is serving its purpose at all (considering that workers make up the vast majority of people in a society)

[@Ometecuhtli]

Talk about it... that's been the common theme in Mexico for decades now, much like the old Meshica the country is demanding its population to sacrifice themselves to keep the sun god alive (aka foreign investment).

[@johnhoo6707]

There are no workers without an economy, because there’d be no reason to produce goods to distribute.

[@piage84]

Welcome to capitalism, baby

[@jeffb.140]

@@piage84*socialism

[@piage84]

@@jeffb.140 so capitalism doesn't rely on people getting low pay to allow companies to be more profitable. Right. When did you move to Fantasyland? Is it nice over there?

[@YakiraShatz]

Considering how tax avoidance is actually Italy’s national pastime, and how corruption is quite prevalent, I suspect that absolutely none of the government figures are actually accurate. That means that it’s impossible to say what the true state of the Italian economy is. Far too many people are paying and being paid under the table, under reporting income , reporting higher expenses than they actually have and so on.

[@TheDamibonf]

A good measurement index for Italian economy is the number of expensive cars you can see on the road. It unfailingly increases when there is a lot of untaxed cash running around

[@piergiorgioscollo7163]

Not familiar with Italy at all I see.

[@ArawnOfAnnwn]

I thought tax avoidance was Greece's national pastime. Has Italy taken the title position from them now? 😅

[@TheDamibonf]

@@ArawnOfAnnwn Grecia capta cœpit victores

[@craigstephens93]

@@piergiorgioscollo7163 You think what they said is incorrect?

[@davidl6671]

Helpful and well done. New subscriber.

[@Articulate99]

Always interesting, thank you.

[@DaniloDurante]

What to add to this lucid, constructive and sad analysis? As an Italian (expatriate) I can only appreciate this video. Thank you very much for explaining the situation so well!

[@lalatinavegana]

I currently live in Italy with my partner and it is very difficult for me to find a job. I have met other high level skilled immigrants who are also struggling. There is no minimum wage, low pay and a lot of people don't want to offer you a contract. If the employer offers you a contract, they have to pay taxes, so a lot of people (including Italians) work nero. I used to live in London, where a lot of young Italians live. Most young italians are leaving because the lack of job opporunities and pay here. The only reason my boyfriend accepted a job back in Italy is because he was fresh out of school from the UK and Italy was the only country in Europe/UK that offered him a job in his specific field. I love the country, but it has a very broken economic system.

[@user-hi3jg2vf3h]

I’m immigrant too and I believe we have to be realistic. Why one immigrant expect receive more than the locals?

[@bigmacdaddy1234]

Work remotely - get a job in a US company. Problem solved.

[@StefanoBorini]

As an Italian who has left for a foreign country, the reason why I left is way more fundamental than cost of living, salary, and work quality. It's because the whole country, from its government to the public administration to the citizens, humiliated and keeps humiliating me and many other people like me. They humiliate our skills, our willingness to be entrepreneurial, and our desire to push forward. There's only so much humiliation you can take before you tell them to get lost and drown in their obsession for mediocrity and control, as you jump on a plane and never turn back.

[@samaptidana7172]

@economicsexplanied Your content absolutely on point and informative . Would love to see your content on current Indian economy.

[@UvstudioCaToronto]

Just because the label says "Made In Italy", it doesn't always mean it was made in Italy. Fashion brands are known to have their products made in Eastern Europe, and only sew the labels onto the clothes in Italy to qualify for the "Made In Italy" label.

[@artman12]

The “Swiss” chocolate- Toblerone- recently switched their production to Slovakia.

[@badluck5647]

The premium is for the brand label anyway.

[@asdasdasddgdgdfgdg]

​@@artman12i just checked and only a part of the production will happened in Slovakia.

[@auraguard0212]

That's very funny. X3

[@NewmaticKe]

The label, or the sole bearing the mark is made in Italy

[@TheShizaarius]

This is a very interesting insight from a primarily economic point of view. It also taps into some of the cultural specifics of Italy, which I believe are also very important in shaping a country's economy. Also, it is good to hear that your rich neighbours have problems too 😅

[@relocatetoItaly]

I regularly post on my KZbin channel about Living in Italy and the struggles and red tape that many people trip over and end up leaving with their dreams in tatters and broke. Thanks for the video

[@mattiblub1623]

I think another important part of Italy's growth in the 2000s is also that many countries joined the EU in 2004 and created a bigger EU market. At least in Germany, this has been a big factor - selling stuff within the EU and getting workers from other EU countries easily.

[@danielmoran4051]

On the subject of Italian economics, I'd really enjoy it if you did a video explaining how Italian banking was conducted and its impacts on europe and the world in the Renaissance period.

[@pietrobottan2355]

I am currently studying at the polytechnic of milan (arguably the best university in Italy) and I am looking for a summer internship. I can't litteraly find one, it's not that they are hard to get or are very few, there are just no opportunities. If a student wants to start working in important companies earlier than it's peers he just can't and his carrer will inevitably lag behind in comparison to his foreign peers. In this situation even if I love my country I am forced to leave it and I am not even talking about the massive wage gap and working conditions

[@TrentGuiness]

A few years ago I tried to relocate to Italy as a fairly wealthy retiree. After months of battling with incompetent lawyers, disfunctional real estate agencies, horrendous bureaucracy, ridiculous tax system and petty corruption at ALL LEVELS of society... I just gave up. It is a wonderful country with amazing people, culture, weather and cuisine, but it just doesnt work as a western country.. So I retired in a different country that might not have as much charm, but at least things work as they should. Super disappointing experience :(

[@francisdrake7060]

I know tons of retiree from different part of the world that live in Italy and they are super happy about It, must add that they all speak Italian which is a major need in order to live there.

[@biohazard8295]

Which part of Italy it was?

[@kevliao]

Just curious, what country are you from, and where did you end up retiring to eventually?

[@fleximan_army]

If you faced that about yout retiree you may figure how hard is to manage a company in my country 😅

[@FideszLover15]

amazing people yet corruption and nepotism everywhere...

[@jeanceresa5570]

Excellent video!

[@phlave]

I would like to add one thing that's not been talked about: one of the reasons we're in this situation in Italy is the consequence of a very deliberate strategy acted upon for decades to "combat socialism". Italy used to have incredibly good nationalized industries and social services. These have been gradually eroded from the inside with embezzlement and deliberate tactics to lower the value of said companies, to then sell them for pennies to privates. Our highways, railways and telecom services have been privatized with the excuse of lowering public debt, and have actually tried doing so with education and health as well.

[@francescotellini1389]

👏👏👏

[@QNEGRO1]

True

[@Lemuria1993]

This one knows what he's talking about

[@castronator-mu3ye]

Are you implying that if they were public It wouldnt be as corrupt (or even more)? And all that with public money, which makes things even harder...

[@puertousbmonkey]

competition is good. Private sector is the only way to real economic growth and the end of poverty

[@PierSilver]

As an Italian, I'm very happy to have another video on my country ^^

[@HShango]

Italy is a beautiful country, but...economically has issues

[@jakehandley3366]

@@HShangoeconomically.. politically.. socially..

[@enricocasali895]

😂

[@WonderBroadcast]

@@HShango yet people live very well in Italy, perhaps it has economic problems but not so catastrophic. For example, the average salary is 2627 EUR/ Month and the cost of living is lower than other countries

[@nussnougat5462]

@@WonderBroadcast that is, if you find a job.

[@alessiopaglia7515]

Hi! I am a young Italian economist, thank you very much for your work and I hope that in the future other international economists will bring more attention to the Italian situation. In my opinion it is at a critical point, where: either the foundations of the new most resilient economy in the world will be created, or we will reach a point of no return.

[@theaverageitaliandon998]

Considerando come sono andate le elezioni negli ultimi 20 anni, la classe politica italiana e il fatto che gli anziani hanno così tanto potere , temo che l’Italia sia persa.

[@MR-np3yg]

@@theaverageitaliandon998 english, this is not an italian video.

[@achrafelh]

what do you suggest ? so italy can be strong economically again

[@MinhNguyen-xu5yr]

Great video but you can make it more briefly because many phases of this videa are repeated over in a same idea , and sometimes one simple idea is explained in a very long way !

[@amraceway]

It is a gross simplification to say big companies are easier to tax than small companies. Large multinational companies have turned tax minimization into a fine art and often attract large government subsidies as they often play one government off against another.

[@nicknickbon22]

From an Italian perspective I can say that there is a big advantage of dealing with a large company: it doesn’t vote in local elections. So you’re basically 1v1, politics vs company and as politics you have the power to make life difficult to a company without too much worrying. The problem is when you have to deal with millions of very very small unproductive companies. Just imagine saying, ok we want to make it easier to form large corporations and more difficult to stay small, because as said in the video large means more productive. Nobody is going to vote you, because nobody who is small and unproductive wants to be out of business because of this. The problem is that there are a lot of people employed in small and unproductive businesses and this means a lot of voters. It is valid for companies, it is valid for taxi drivers for instance, even if they’re 40000 people they can easily influence municipal elections (just think about families dependent on that income) where licenses numbers are decided and they can influence national politics by blocking roads if someone proposes a liberalization program for the sector. I could make other examples like this, the point is that the combination of universal suffrage and a huge unproductive population that does not want to change is a good recipe for stagnation. (I’m not saying universal suffrage is bad, I won’t live in this country if it weren’t a democracy, but this is a matter of fact).

[@amraceway]

@@nicknickbon22 It all depends on how large companies are regulated. In the end it is the quality of lifestyle provided to the average person. Being efficient can reduce meaningful employment. Why change to something which offers less? The beauty of Italy is its historic nature and social engagement.

[@nicknickbon22]

@@amraceway well, let me say that if lots of young people are going abroad and not so many people from other European countries are moving into (even Romanian and Albanians, who migrated here in the 90s are returning home or moving to other eh countries) , the quality of lifestyle is not perceived as good as in other neighboring countries. I mean, the point is that higher wages doesn’t mean only more money into you bank account: it means being considered more as a person having skills, it is being put in a workplace where you can express your ability or developing your ideas with little constraints, it is being in an environment that it is culturally active (Geneva spends 20% of its taxes on culture for example ) and where there are always interesting events to see and to participate. I don’t mean that there is none of this here, but the thing is that, in neighboring countries where it easy to migrate to if you have skills and language knowledge , there is more of it. Even work life balance in Italy is partially a myth: Italians work on average 450-500 hours more than Germans, for the very simple things that German are on average more productive (because they are more technologically advanced) and so they can actually work less to earn more than us.

[@sawftlesschannel7773]

The part about the lacklustre adoption of technology in Italy and the differences around the world got me thinking about if the adoption of technologies is as great of a boon for economies as statistics make them out to be, what happens to the countries that are technologically advanced in most parts, but conduct the mundane parts of their business in an old-fashioned way? There are some things I've seen and read about Japan and how they are still using tech that is even decades behind the current level in a comparable economy, and that kinda got me wondering how much they and any other country doing things as they do are missing out on economic growth, especially when the valuable workforce is diminishing year by year.

[@RarebitFiends]

Yeah from what I understand banking in Japan currently feels like banking in the US in the late 1990s with the amount of things that must be done in person/on paper, the lack of emphasis (and in some cases availability) of online banking, etc.

[@jacobcampbell6005]

I wonder how much it has to do with the aging population issue. Japan was 1st and Italy 3rd on that list of oldest populations in this video, after all. Any young person has experienced the annoyance of their parents and grandparents insisting on paying with coins at a store, or refusing to do something on their phone in 30 seconds and instead spending two hours doing it in person or on paper. A country like Japan adopts a lot of aspects of technology, but if so much of their population is elderly they may end up catering to the tastes of the elderly

[@yogsothoth00]

Is it actually causal? It could be that booming economies have the luxury of investing in technology and it doesn't actually help all that much

[@ac1455]

In a way that’s a good thing if they’re behind tech wise but still produce that much, since it just means they have room to grow if they just better integrate modern technologies.

[@Obyvvatel]

Japanese businesses are very slow to pivot due to cultural reasons. you can feel it if you work in a company, not in Japan, with the HQ in Japan

[@timwills1]

Thank you for packing so much information into such a convenient timespan. Although the dismal science is expanding it remains limited to what it can measure. Being lazy we are happy to accept 'economic growth' based on countable items like cement, 'stuff you can drop on your foot' and easy to measure services. This 'measured' economy is only part of the story, which is why it is absolutely delightful living in this basket case of a country, because the sun shines, the food is good and people are rich in time. Buying a robot mower and going to the gym is economic growth, cutting your own grass achieves the same but looks doesn't show in the numbers, similar to the oft quoted example that marrying your housekeeper decreasses GDP.

[@mandrake8888]

Italy on economic forums and on KZbin is like China, every year we are finished but every year HERE WE ARE

[@mwfp1987]

When I went to Italy, every restaurant had a visa logo on the door, but tried to deny accepting the credit card in favor of cash. I don't think it was to avoid the service fee

[@XorsosedutoX]

Here in Italy (although it has become illegal now, many still do it) many business owners often try to deny electronic payments in order to avoid fees. Very often, they will also offer customers a "deal" to pay less money in exchange of not getting a receipt. Both of those are illegal, so you can often pay with card even if they say that they don't accept it just by threatening them of calling the police.... that is, if you are prepared for what often ends up being not the friendliest of situations.

[@francescotellini1389]

They were in south of Italy for sure , untill recently was compulsory to accept then ...

[@mattlost5534]

They do the same in Berlin since ages and nobody ever complain

[@lisette2060]

​@@mattlost5534Who in Berlin are avoiding VISA etc to make black money? Definitely not the ordinary (white...) German business man 😜

[@XorsosedutoX]

@@d.m.5510 il discorso del chiamare la polizia lo facevo solo per dire che era una opzione quando in un negozio o bar, quando arriva il momento di pagare si rifiutano di accettare il pagamento elettronico. A me è capitato di andare al bar, bermi qualcosa e di sentirmi dire che lì accettavano solamente pagamenti elettronici superiori di 25 euro, obbligandomi (a consumazione effettuata) a pagare in contanti che non avevo, e per questi casi ricordo che tale rifiuto è illegale. Pagare meno in contanti e senza scontrino è certamente una possibilità se si possiedono abbastanza contanti e se si è d'accordo, ma non tutti lo sono.

[@riffrff]

I think the video forgot a very important side effect of the EU. Italian companies moved abroad. Mediaset/MediaForEurope (probably the largest media group in Europe), is now a Dutch company. Stellantis (AKA FCA+PSA, AKA FIAT+Peugeot, one of the largest car companies in the world) is now a Dutch company. STMicroelectronics (french-italian company, one of the largest chip manufacturers in Europe), is now a Dutch company. As long as the Netherlands provide low tax rates (plus loop holes) and different-weighted stocks, moving there is advantageous for the holdings. At the same time, it is advantageous for the actual factories to move east-ward to cheaper workforce. It is hard to counteract this without getting in a race to the bottom, tho off course there is a lot Italy could do (e.g. improve its judicial system).

[@simaancheno]

Poverty in the Mediterranean area is by design. Most of the arguments in this video are BS. Big companies are the ones evading taxes, for instance.

[@fleximan_army]

It Is a shame that Ue doesnt make anything to stop fiscal dumping !

[@000miami8]

👏👏100% agree

[@bakadavi3917]

I'm Italian, I live in Milan and I'm 25. I work in computer science, but I cannot afford a rent. Wages are too low to live on your own if you are a young adult in Italy. I live with my famili, but I plan to move abroad as soon as possible. Let me add just one detail: the economy fell really bad during the pandemic and Italy did not recover from that. Food, Fuel and housing prices increased a lot and wages decreased slightly, so the situation right now is a lot worse than it was pre-covid

[@zdenekburian1366]

also, they have triple-boostered you by force

[@godfreytomlinson2282]

9:05 I'd love to see a list or some data on how much value is added by country

[@h-7-266]

Italy is the best example of why economic growth and quality of life are not related. Things started going down bad right when the economy started to grow exponentially in the 90's. Thank you Berlusconi and the crazy privatization of everything, that leaded us into extreme poverty just to draw a line that goes up

[@freakalmighty2533]

That's cause economic growth is typically measured by GDP. If you and I make up the entire economy of "100", the GDP would remain the same if we had 50 each or if I had 100. Just another outdated Capitalist way of measuring the "success" of a society unfortunately.

[@Random17Game]

it was after the Berlusconi left that things started going downhill, what are you talking about?

[@freakalmighty2533]

@@Random17Game what's the VR you've been plugged into for the last 30 years called? I want a holiday from reality too

[@h-7-266]

@@Random17Game Parlo dei tagli alla sanità, all' istruzione, alle riforme sulle pensioni e sul lavoro, al blocco delle opere pubbliche e all' iper finanziamento ai privati. Per non parlare di come ha cambiato il modo di fare politica relegandoci alla scelta di fenomeni da baraccone che giocano a fare i governanti come dei ragazzini delle elementari giocano a fare gli astronauti

[@monkeypix7285]

Se sapessi la storia della politica italiana, sapresti che stai dicendo baggianate. Guarda chi è stato davvero a privatizzare tutto in Italia negli anni 80 e 90... Il nostro caro amico banchiere Draghi

[@mlx8898]

As an Italian this video seems quite fair and very good made. At least, as you said, the "made in Italy" (as products labeled made in a specific country) is something that only Italy has achieved in the whole world but it's not enough for the grown of the economy

[@Dudarinho]

are you sure? made in Japan, made in Germany, made in USA is way cooler

[@francisdrake7060]

​@@DudarinhoFerrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Gucci, Fendi, Armani and so on, the Italian design is the best in the world, everybody knows this.

[@Dudarinho]

​@@francisdrake7060 oh true, these are the most popular and only demanded goods in the world, population consumption ends on italian luxury cars and cloth 🤦

[@aldotanca9430]

@@Dudarinho He never said that though. He said design, and it is true that Italy is quite unique for that. It is a selling point worldwide, and to an extent that applies to Italian food too. Made in Japan was for a long time synonim with good electronics, nowadays a bit less because production has shifted. Made in Germany was again for a long time a synonim with quality and mechanical solidity, for vehicles mainly. Made in Switerland was traditionally associated with high quality watches and, because of Zeiss, optics. But Made in USA? You are making it up, are you not? There are some niche markets for which made in USA is appreciated worldwide, but they are brand specific and surely they are not "most popular and only demanded goods in the world" (Fender Statocaster made in USA, a staple in every household?). Made in US can be a selling point in some central american and south american countries by comparison with certain ranges of local products. But besides that, Made in the USA is a selling point only.. well, in the USA? It is an internal political thing, not a quality thing.

[@brb4903]

Zeiss is not Swiss lol@@aldotanca9430

[@Niklaus_86]

Super interesting. Grazie!

[@user-ur7zs8uj5x]

Such an interesting post, so I have subscribed and liked. But jaysus he needs to slow down on his delivery!

[@kukumarro]

What you said about the Italian branding reminded me of how Italy buys 2/3rds of the spanish olive oil, relabels it as Italian, as sells it abroad at a much higher price

[@Pesso86]

We actually buy olives, not oil. If you make the oil in Italy, legally it is italian, regardless of the origin of the ingredients. Pretty stupid, but that’s the law

[@humbugswangkerton9972]

Well it's a good sign of some entrepreneurship!

[@v1pogio118]

its also because of EU laws that limit the production of specific products

[@vmoses1979]

Well the Spanish should up the their branding game. It's not that hard. No need to subsidize the Italians.

[@duartesilva7907]

Same with Portuguese marble...

[@quintiax]

Hey EE! I have a question regarding the wage price spiral. You mentioned that linking wages to the index has the potential to develop the spiral. However is this always the case? For example Belgium has a law that fixes wages to the index automatically, meaning that each year wages automatically rise in line with inflation, without the need of an agreement between the government, unions and employers. Yet despite this, the inflation of Belgium is around the same as all other European nations, despite Belgium being the only one having this peculiar law. Is there a reason as to why the wage price spiral isn't activated in Belgium? Does the European internal market soften the increased wages for the companies? Thank you in advance!

[@larkyyyn3435]

Shhh not so loud the market said it can’t work.

[@vicesig]

Because Belgium is small. The inflation effect gets absorbed by the rest of the Euro States. If Germany (or Italy) would do that, you'd feel it.

[@howtoappearincompletely9739]

I am also eager to hear an explanation for this.

[@firenter]

Belgian here, I'd love to see EE's take on this as well. My two cents: in general we are a people that enjoy stability so we are relatively economically conservative. The wage index is one of the things that helps with that, as that means you don't need to concern yourself with making sure you're getting paid in line with a growing economy. This makes it so there isn't little booms and busts of increasing and decreasing wages depending on how the wider economy is doing which overall means a slightly higher cost of living but in return you (almost) never have to worry about making sure your paycheck is going to last you to the end of the month. For businesses it's also an incentive to seek sustained growth rather than going all in as then they'd be creating more inflation which would immediately backfire on both them and their peers as they'd have to pay their workers that much more the year after. This self-balances the system to a place where most businesses can either keep up with the rising cost of employees or go under and make room for someone who does value long term growth over making a quick buck.

[@kaneworsnop1007]

My interpretation from the video was that Italy's wages automatically increased with inflation as it happened, rather than other countries methods of the government raising minimum wage at the start of the financial year and not raising it again until the following financial year. So Belgium is basically do the same as other countries, only the wage increase is inline with inflation and not what the government decides; so as mentioned in the video this creates a delay between when inflation occurs and when pay goes up which helps to slow down the effect, although in that case it was employees asking for a pay rise which could occur multiple times a year and so would be less stable than the Belgium method.

[@JG-wh4xd]

Great video! One constructive bit of advice, I would avoid putting countries in blue on your map graphics. Brain logically thinks blue is water and it makes the maps harder to read.

[@Samuel-ql6zi]

Tiny correction: minute 8:27 is footage of Lisbon, Portugal. Alcântara dock and the port of Lisbon.

[@ilmaurizetazetaerre]

the GDP you plotted and argued about is on (possibly) nominal figures and in US$. if you adjust for inflation and take into account the relation between italian/european currency and dollars, you can clearly see that our economy has actually been stagnating since the early 2000s. The rapid growth you talk about in the late 2000s (in nominal figures) is only the combination of the most anemic growth among eurozone countries and the late 2000s euro appreciation over the dollar. Back in those days you could get over1.5$ with 1€

[@MagnusvonYoshi]

1€ kinda looks like a : ( sad face

[@howtoappearincompletely9739]

Even if some of the data in it were rather dodgy, that was indeed a fascinating case study. One of your best videos for a while.

[@randomsomeguy156]

There was definitely some dodgy data jn this video. See 10:50 read the citation date and graph dates. Not to mention the typos in the beginning of the video

[@spaniardsrmoors6817]

It's CLICKBAIT/BS

[@97jackroma]

Thank you for talking about this, I'm in the position of looking for work and a new life anywhere out of italy for those and many other reasons, along with many fines for not getting adeguate to the rest of the world

[@mpix2000]

I'd love to see an episode to tunisia's state! I feel somehow it is similar to itlay's today!

[@metzgergine]

The wage price spiral... as if crippling your workers is absolutely not going to cripple the economy... we really need to get over the raw numbers held by a small number of companies that don't pay the population well...

[@robertmartin6800]

Well, crippling the economy will _definitely_ cripple the economy, so avoiding that price spiral is a reasonable goal.

[@gabbon7723]

The majority of firms that don't pay or delay the paycheck are SME in low value added services or industry.

[@seeingthought]

Wage price spiral is a myth. IMF even confirmed it's non-existence recently. This is old news. Marx also debunked this back in his debating days when arguing with a carpenters union leader. Wages ~catch up~ to inflation.

[@alfonshasel1995]

10:50 you forgot to mention that when the joined the eur zone riks premiums on sovereign bonds practically disappered which made taking on debt even easier

[@Mapologydocumentary]

I hope anyone who’s reading this finds inspiration in Italy’s resilient history and believes that, despite challenges, the country has the potential to overcome economic difficulties and thrive once again.😊

[@ludacorleone8563]

nice fairytale

[@nico-te2sb]

How?

[@fleximan_army]

Se ci liberiamo dei sinistri ce la faremo sicuramente! 👌

[@lucadesanctis563]

​@@fleximan_armyquelli che ragionano come te sono il motivo per cui siamo ridotti di merda

[@katakkio]

commento degno di chi non ha capito un fico secco. Se continuiamo ad illuderci che una fazione politica sia la migliore dell'altra per puro spirito "calcistico" non andremo mai da nessuna parte. Il male del paese è la politica ed i suoi politici che a turno, da destra a sinistra, dissanguano ogni anno questo paese con provvedimenti degni del peggiore aguzzino. Tagliando sanità, pensioni, salari, etc. e ancora ci sono i fessi che fanno tifo calcistico della politica? Continuate ad illudervi che la vostra squadretta sia quella giusta e non vedere quello che combinano i vostri politici ladri e l'italia collasserà definitivamente.@@fleximan_army

[@joaoalmeidadecarvalho3480]

Minute 8:24 is actually a footage of Lisbon docks in Portugal.

[@andresuaza]

This is a great video, as always Economics Explains makes an interesting case of a nation's economy. But, I must say I am slightly disappointed that there's no Italy on the economics explained national leaderboard. What happened guys?

[@krzysztofkowalski2816]

Ponzi scheme was coined by an Italian.

[@KingsguardMedia]

Looking at the Poverty Line Map, I need to see a video on the economy of Austria. A small landlocked country without a crazy finance sector like it's neighbour has the lowest poverty rate in Europe.

[@alekdemj]

Austria has quite low fertility rate. So they will face the same issues pretty soon. The world need to get rid of capitalism. Short term interests always contradict to long term interests. If people won't prioritize big families over career and leisure our children will face very tough times.

[@WonderBroadcast]

that map is completely wrong. Just look for the official data from the European Commission.

[@jorehir]

Those poverty stats are bullshit. Poverty definitions change, and they also get more or less concerning depending on the specific context of a country or region.

[@concinnus]

It's a mistake. Looking at his actual source, the CIA factbook, it seems like he used the figure from the next entry (Azerbaijan). Though I don't know how a strong finance sector would reduce poverty, lol.

[@samueltic]

At minute 8:28 that's Lisbon, Portugal ahaha. I can perfectly recognize my home city.

[@onlinepanda1]

I think that also a lot of italians underestimate the situation thank you for bringing facts

[@nicholashoward7251]

Why no economic leader board rating? As a Brit I was looking forward to actually being ahead of a developed country for once!

[@jorehir]

Already did it in a past video. And it's currently easy to beat Italy when growth and such are accounted for :(

[@simonrafia4519]

We have better manufacturing in Italy (I'm working in the UK)

[@_Wombat]

I do feel like we (the UK) get pretty harsh treatment from this channel :D A lot of it is post-Brexit emotions. I've seen comments in the past celebrating the idea that we might enter a recession (which hasn't - as of yet - actually materialised). But in classical British style, we plod away, and most people barely pay any attention to the external negativity. Which is just as well really.

[@alepigna84]

We bribed him, we couldn’t have stand such a humiliation 😅

[@Harry93IT]

I wouldn't count on the UK scoring higher than Italy... private debt in Italy is incomparably, productivity ain't much better and since Brexit "Made in England" is associated with duties, taxes and shipping costs...

[@HermSezPlayToWin]

Italy is stuck too much in the past. Many of the best and brightest can’t establish themselves in the country because institutions like universities hire based on pedigree instead of demonstrated achievement. Even those who really want to go home cannot because they can’t find jobs befitting their qualifications there. So they establish themselves in other countries and flourish. Bad for Italy but very good for these other countries. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@kaloarepo288]

You can see it in the skyline of Italian cities -there are very few modern buildings and except for Milan virtually no skyscrapers in Italian cities - contrast this with London or the German cities or even in Spain and France. This of course gives us charming historical places but there is also a downside as ancient buildings are often inadequate for the needs of the modern economy and puts Italy in a straight jacket.

[@londonspade5896]

@@kaloarepo288 Those skyscrapers are full of offices, you can place offices within an old building... Plus tourists will prefer old buildings. Italy should avoid skyscrapers

[@kaloarepo288]

Often there are severe restrictions as to what can be done inside historic buildings -many have artworks painted on the walls and things like that but you are correct in pointing out the importance of art and architecture especially in regard to tourism - all those little hill towns with buildings clambering down the rocks are a delight to see and this resource should be exploited to the max- not just the obvious attractions like venice, Rome and Florence.@@londonspade5896

[@johng8024]

Those statistics regarding poverty is nearly 10 years Old. Not accurate. Greece is also the highest growing gdp in the Eurozone according to Elstat.

[@iwillnotcomplyistandformyf6642]

Literally that's everywhere all over the world *_*not*_* just Italy though

[@Peteruspl]

It is very stagnant economy where middle class (and even worse - pensioners) got a nice piece of a pie and now guard it. Guild-style jobs - people who already got the jobs are very secure including guaranteed raises with inflation, but anyone without is screwed. I think there's still a system where there's limit of services per part of a city so its illegal to open hairdresser if the slots are taken (and they are always taken), so even small scale competition is stifled. If they would open it up many of the young people would get their opportunities but there will never be votes for this with so few children per family and all of the rich + middle class + old entrenched in a view that they are owed their position in life and all these benefits. Every vote will go towards preserving that until collapse.

[@marcoerbifori8683]

There's not that system anymore, since 1980 I guess...

[@lisette2060]

Competing in a race to the bottom isn't useful in today's global production climate.. Notice how miserable Middle Eastern citizens are getting along in many West European cities. They bring zero relevant skills and a dysfunctional culture

[@fleximan_army]

You have to know that today you can open hairdresser shops or pubs everywhere in Italy!

[@TexRex6352]

Italy needs to think more about the Roman Empire.

[@blenderbanana]

Are you special or something?

[@javierslytherin9898]

The Roman Empire wasn't only Italy

[@fanaticofmetal]

The Roman Empire had more competent leaders at times, and also very corrupt ones...

[@MarcoFariello]

2000 Anni di Cattolicesimo e la caduta dell'Impero con la Chiesa come unica fonte di unità nazionale hanno instillata nella cultura italiana la propensione all'immobilismo, specialmente il Centro-Destra propugna nei fatti la paralisi anche se a parole nega. La Controriforma cattolica ha ucciso il Rinascimento, la calata su Roma dell'esercito di Carlo V viene ancora attribuita ai Lanzichenecchi Protestanti, anche se la stragrande maggioranza era Cattolica Spagnola e Italiana, e l'Etica Protestante del Lavoro viene rifiutata, così la politica del risparmio che tanto è e fece all'economia tedesca del Secondo Dopoguerra, ogni volta che la Sinistra ha portato un significativo cambiamento nella Società le viene a posteriori rinfacciato ch'è stato opera di una minoranza, cioè la Repubblica Romana del 1849, l'Unità d'Italia, la Caduta del Fascismo, la Nascita della Repubblica, la Lotta per i Diritti, il '68, la lotta per la Laicità dello Stato prevista dalla Costituzione ma mai realmente applicata, il Bilancio in Pareggio nella Seconda Repubblica, le poche volte che lo si è sfiorato, una reale lotta contro le Mafie che sono prosperare e divenuta potenti dopo la Seconda Guerra Mondiale perché sostenute dai servizi segreti di diversi Paesi occidentali, specialmente gli USA. 😡

[@shrektheswampless6102]

@@javierslytherin9898 the roman empire was italic that's not an opinion.

[@lorenzovaletti4951]

Very interesting!