Italians lack confidence, innovation: Report
Italians did not have to wait until May 25 to know what they have felt for months. But now they can back up their feelings with the rigorous statistical data provided by the Italian National Statistics Institute (ISTAT)’s Annual Report released last Wednesday.
It’s a somber picture painted by the Italian statistical bureau: a country experiencing “enduring stagnation” whose “public administrators, entrepreneurs and citizens” were not able to find “measures aimed at eliminating weak points and appreciating strong points.”
Such a situation comes as no surprise as the latest confidence index by research institute ISAE fell to 84.2, the lowest since November 2001, as Bloomberg reported May 25, another sign of the “air of distrust” mentioned in the report.
On the macroeconomic front ISTAT confirms what the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and other international organizations have been repeating: Italy is unable to keep up with the rest of Europe. Between 1995 and 2004, Italy experienced slower growth than her neighbors –1.6 percent per year compared to a less-than-excellent 2.2 percent for the EU.
