25 April 2007

Mario Monti responds

In il Corriere della Sera, Mario Monti has responded to my comment on the article “Structural Counter-reform”:

“To a great extent I agree with what Minister Di Pietro said: the pressing need for reform aimed at “putting the economy at the service of the citizens”, the statement that “Italy needs economic reforms, new rules to protect small scale shareholders, those who save as well as consumers, so that it can become part of true capitalism”, and the list of topics to be tackled.
The Minister knows how to combine vehemence and efficacy and I am confident that he will succeed in getting this line adopted by the government and in the majority.
Readers will remember that this is an approach that I have been calling for for some time: a bipartisan agreement. And it is an approach to which I have tried to contribute on a European level.
There are however two points that I don’t agree with.
First, that there has been no reform in Italy up until now, seems to me an “ungenerous” (as the politicians would say) proposition, especially when considering the current government and the previous ones of which Antonio Di Pietro has been a part. Certainly a decisive acceleration is needed.
Secondly, I believe that it is legitimate to call for reforms for a more rigorous market economy and at the same time to express perplexity about the change of rules while the work is going on.
Finally I hope that the government, while avoiding bringing in these changes (golden shakes), brings in other initiatives as suggested by Di Pietro, against the golden hand-shakes.”
Mario Monti

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Economy