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Views of Italy today: Scene at
Livorno Harbor, Tuscany (center);
Clockwise from upper left: Ferrari
factory at Modena, Emilia-Romagna
region; Grape harvest in Trentino-Aito
Adige region; Rooftop view of Rome
looking toward dome of St. Peter's
Basilica; Woman crocheting at Bacoli
in Campania; Woman working ata
knitter in ber bouse at Soleto in
Apulia; Harvesting olives at Salento
in Apulia.
sanee ltaly's collection of city–
states, each its own nation.
ltaly as we know it today has
existed as a nation for only a little
more than a century.
lt
has been a
republic only since 1946. Regional
differences remain strong. National
civic responsibility is far less well
developed. Centuries of division
October 1984
and political wrangling cannot be
quickly overcome.
There is even today a great deal
of truth in an observation made
more than a century and a half ago
by the Austrian statesman Count
Metternich: " ltaly is not a country
but a geographical expression."
Italy is not one land but many.
It
is at least
two
count ries-the more
prosperous "European" north, and
the poorer " Mediterranean" south.
The widening economic gap be–
tween the two regions remains a
major national concern.
Economic Collapse?
lndividualism is also evident in the
economic spherc.
The transformation of most Ital–
ians' living standards since World
War II has been dramatic. Yet
despite the postwar surge, I taly is
still a relatively poor country.
Italy's economic woes are many:
persistent double-digit inflation,
chronic unemployment and under–
employment, a huge national debt,
large balance of trade and balance of
payments deficits (ltaly imports 80
percent of its energy), and
a sizable national budget
deficit.
For years, a nalysts
have been looking at the
statistics and declaring
Italy to be on the verge of
imminent economic col–
lapse. Yet the country has
remained afloat. Why?
M ueh of the answer
líes with Italy's "under–
grou nd economy"-the
thousands of small unre–
ported firms that operate
cheaply and efficiently in
attics, basements and back-alley
shops, keeping no records and pay–
ing no taxes.
These small businesses- often
individual or family enterprises–
produce mainly low-technology con–
sumer goods such as purses, gloves
and dresses. They provide full-time,
part-time and moonlighting jobs for
millions of llalians, easing the pres–
sures on the employment market and
addi ng to national productivity and
personal living standards. Yet none
of it shows up on the official statis–
tics.
Naples, for example, exports mil–
Iions of pairs of gloves each year, yet
does not have a single glove fac–
tory- at least not on the books!
The underground econ–
omy is believed to repre–
sent an amazing
30
per–
cent
of the Italian gross
national product!
So here again, by pull–
ing back into individual
strengths and family to–
getherness, the ltalians
have kept their count ry
functioni ng and made thc
best of bad times. They
have survived-despite
what many see as govern–
ment mismanagement of
the economy.
Now look at religion.
Secular State
More than 90 percent of ltaly's
people are baptized Catholics.
Large numbers, however, are non–
practicing. ltaly has become a secu–
lar state. Long a pivota! power in
ltaly, t he Roman Catholic Church
has lost sorne of its influence in
recent years.
Divorce is legal in Italy. ltaly has