The Italians yesterday heard another damning report into the current state of the Italian economy and this time by the president of the Confcommercio, Sergio Billè.
The Confcommercio (General Confederation of Trade, Tourism, Services and SMEs) is the largest enterprise-representative in Italy, with 780,000 members from the trade, tourist, service and transportation sectors. Sergio Billè made a passionate plea to all to act decisively and exit what he described as an environment of corporate egotism and immobility. All should act with “more courage, decisively and with a greater sense of Stateâ€, he said.
The president of the Confcommercio was critical of the government and their failure to act up until now, while at the same time he called the opposition to present a “shadow governmentâ€, that would be able to best illustrate what alternatives they could offer to move Italy outside the current crisis.
Overall Sergio Billè’s talk was long and complex, very lively and full of citations and references to iconic figures (ranging from Gengis Khan to Max Weber and De Sica). The complex references led an non-Italian journalist to comment “How can one translate De Sica’s neorealism in English…!â€.
The government called the analysis presented by Sergio Billè “largely correctâ€, even if somewhat unfair to the government. They promised new measures to deal with the problems that would by simple and efficient. Among the steps to be taken, the Minister of Economy, Domenico Siniscalco, also indicated that Italy needed to arrive at an appropriate plan to improve Italy’s deficit “through discussions with London and Brusselsâ€, adding “I deliberately mention London firstâ€. In general, the government intends the policies of lowering taxes, investing in public infrastructure, and simplifying the rules by which business must abide.
