As we know, economic competition is global.

Italy is part of this game and up to now, given the results, we could happily say that, using a football expression it has already lost the Championship and is now just fighting to avoid relegation.

Industrial production in our country has fallen by 1.8% in 2005 with respect to 2004. This is the biggest fall since 1993.

A fall in production levels means fewer jobs, fewer exports, less chance for Italians in the future, more poverty.

There are many causes of this decline and it’s not possible to cover them all in a short article like this.

One however is easily understood and can be eliminated straight away. If it’s not eliminated by this government, it could be eliminated in the first 100 days of the next government.

The costs of heating, of energy and of connectivity, the so-called utilities in Italy, are among the highest in Europe.


Chart from The Economist: comparison of gas and electricity prices in Europe.

Here we are not making comparisons with India and China but with Germany and Great Britain, where the primary costs for a company are lower then in Italy. How can we think to compete in a situation like this?

The costs of utilities need to be aligned to those in Europe. The regime of basic monopoly of services must be eliminated. With true competition services will be cheaper and more efficient. What’s true for companies is even more true for families who are seeing, month by month, a reduction in their spending capacity.