The Big Problem With Italy’s Unexpected Economic Boom

Is one of Europe's most troubled economies suddenly doing much better? Well...not really.

[johnl.]

Sadly voters won’t remember who created this debt just who was in power when economy slows down. This is true for all countries

[MrRobcher]

As an Italian there is no economic boom in the general population its only for the 1 % ers, the salaries for the avarage joe are garbage(max 1200, to get 1500 you can be considered lucky) and taxes are still super high and the majority of businesses are small and pay garbage. There are very few big companies so if you want a big salary you have huge competition and to add more, nepotism is rampant in Italian society( there are entire jobs that are impossible to enter unless you come from someone who already is in the business). Sorry to say, but Italy is a third world country without tourism, and i think that with the unsustainable pension plan and huge public debt will cause 99% a default, if not now but by 2028-2030 dire times will arrive. I have worked outside Italy since 2017 and i would consider to work there only for 4000 clean or more, but its almost impossible to get that unless you are a big manager or have super high skilla.

[swaggery]

The biggest problem with this is it's yet another version of a government pension program. The old and rich that already had houses they owned were the only ones that were able to benefit from this and now they will expect the youth in poverty to pay for all of the loses. If I was under 30 years old I would do everything I can to flee and never return to the country after seeing this as the policy the national government chose to go with.

[boravarol]

the taxes in italy makes it almost impossible to sustain a startup ecosystem and it encourages small businesses that don't expand

[lelestuff]

As a young italian I can say one thing: the fact that each and every under 35 I meet is not optimistic towards the future of this Country, says it all. Italy is a place where you spend your vacations, not a place where you live.

[asdasdasddgdgdfgdg]

I haven't watched the video yet but let me guess: New, fresh debt is being sold as "economic growth" ??

[matteoboscolotube]

I live in Italy and, while it’s certainly true we are not the strongest economy in the EU, I always loved living here and I wouldn’t live anywhere else. That’s probably because money isn’t the only thing I’m thinking about when judging a country, and also because I live in the richest part of Italy. For sure, there is a big gap between the south and the north of the country and I can understand that people in the far south may be having a different experience from mine. Just sharing some positive experience because I often see people wanting to go abroad. To those people I suggest to go and try. Been there, done that. I came back here because money wasn’t enough to cover all the good things we have here. Started my own business and enjoying a pretty good life now! 🇮🇹❤️

[GiancarloTravelBlog]

While many arguments presented are true and it's unrealistic to consider Italy as the main economy of Europe anytime soon, I believe this video perpetuates stereotypical misconceptions that Northern European countries have about Southern European economies. Italy indeed faces numerous challenges, but it also has many strengths. Why don't we ever see videos discussing how the German economic model is unsustainable and how Germany might soon face tough economic situations similar to those in France or Spain? Italy is not the "sick man" of Europe; it's European economies as a whole that are facing significant challenges, with Italy being the first to experience them fully.

While I agree that the Superbonus scheme generated inflation and drove up prices, it was also a positive measure for boosting consumer confidence and willingness to spend, which are crucial for addressing the slow growth Italy has experienced in recent years due to severely low household spending. Additionally, Italy has made huge improvements in terms of reducing fiscal evasion, decreasing it by almost a third in just the last five years (from over 150 billion euros to less than 100 billion euros annually). For me, the real problem that this video highlights is that the Italian government is still doing very little to make life feasible for young workers. I had to live elsewhere to find opportunities for a sustainable salary and to avoid being exploited by the Italian working environment. Continued brain drain will destroy any possibilities Italy has of truly recovering.

With that said, I would suggest the author to focus more on how the Italian economy could evolve towards more sustainable and structural economic growth instead of unwillingly advocating for austerity measures, which have historically harmed growth in Italy more than any potential future fiscal policies might be doing right now. It didn't work in 2010 and will not work today.

[matteobarolo]

I'm 30 and i'm italian and i wanna go away from this country as soon as possible. Thanks for telling the truth

[_Isabellacoach_]

And I’m one of those Italians who’s planning to study and work abroad in a better country like Switzerland 😂 The job market in Italy and wages are going downhill and even people with a PHD can’t find a decent job and earn more than 2K€ per month (actually making more than 1200€ is already amazing here)

[tanner]

One positive note is that tax evasion in Italy is reducing quite steadily in the past few years, it has gone from 21% to 16%, thanks to cross checking and, mandatory credit card POS for every business and other measures. it's estimated that thing s will improve further in the upcoming years

[marcoac-sxlq]

You're right but: 1) Italy didn't narrowly escape bankrupcy together with Greece. As a matter of fact Italy didn't even need to be bailed out after 2008 crisis, as Spain, Portugal and Greece did. 2) Italy has a high public debt, but by far the lowest private debt of western europe 3) last time I checked the Italian net investment position was positive, that is Italy is an international net creditor. Most of its debt is internal 4) normal countries which don't have to live in the framework of the EU and Euro currency can do whatever they want to stimulate their economy, and we have many successful examples in the world, and Italy was one of them before the Euro

[laddesansatoredinuvole]

As an Italian, I almost hate my country for its economy. But I often remind people of a thing that is usually forgotten:
Italy is still one of the countries with the highest qualities of life, way higher than most countries in the world.

[Mido_]

You said it increases inflation but Italy's inflation this year is extremely low (which is why I guess you didn't show it).

[kortyEdna]

Every crash/collapse brings with it an equivalent market chance if you are early informed and equipped, I've seen folks amass up to $1m amid economy crisis, and even pull it off easily in favorable conditions. Unequivocally, the collapse is getting somebody somewhere rich

[FAB]

The superbonus was also an investment by the government to increase the power efficiency of homes and reduce waste, as it was targeted towards power saving renovations rather than everything: you could replace windows, add insulation, add solar, heatpumps, and heatpump water heaters.

It was targeted towards the maaany 1500s to 1950s brick homes we have here with 30 year old furnaces and water heaters, no insulation at all, and old single pane windows that almost leak more heat than leaving them open. You were only eligible for the bonus if your home went up two "energy efficiency" tiers after the renovations.

They also pushed solar a lot, to make the country less reliant on foreign gas and oil (when paired with electrification of previously gas appliances - coincidentally you could only add solar to the covered renovations if paired with the other things mentioned above). Remember that Italy's main electricity source is imported natural gas, and it really wants to reduce it as much as possible. Nuclear would be nice, but we have a long bureaucratic road ahead before that.
My mom did get solar with one of the bonuses, and it got paired with heatpumps, a new gas-electric hybrid furnace and a heatpump water heater. Imported electricity usage got reduced to 1/3 and gas usage by 1/3. The system also exported 10MWh throughout the year, so for an investment by the government of about 20K€, this home alone supplied solar energy to two-three additional houses that haven't switched to solar (average consumption here is 2.5 - 4MWh a year), energy that they now don't have to buy from abroad.

Overall I'd say it was an extremely expensive, but calculated risk the government took.

[benchoflemons]

Italys fiscal situation is not sustainable but yet people will beg for more antiausterity measures

[simonaferlini]

Two objections:
1) it was Conte government, Meloni suspended the subsides
2) you cannot say "it's not real growth", guys, it's Keynes 101, plus sustainable development as the renovated houses are now way more energy efficient than before (you had to go up at least 2 energy efficiency levels in order to get fundsd)

[giuseppe]

Economic boom lol i'm from italy i didn't see it🤣🤣🤣

[L.Parisi]

Italian, 39, i struggled the past 10 years just to arrive to the point in which i am now. This point is.. having a sufficient amount of money to convince a bank to loan me more money.

To buy a house while being in debt the rest of my life.

I changed 5 jobs, i never took any travel or vacation, i muscled through the struggle for 10 years.. For what? For being in debt under my roof.

Young italians, especially the ones with good English, go away, don't do this, think for yourselves and escape.

Me and few others wil face the bankruptcy at some point, but you don't need to..

Go away