{"id":619895,"date":"2025-12-08T11:03:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T11:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/619895\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T11:03:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T11:03:15","slug":"there-is-no-economic-miracle-in-italy-contrary-to-what-the-french-far-right-thinks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/619895\/","title":{"rendered":"There is no \u201ceconomic miracle\u201d in Italy, contrary to what the French far right thinks"},"content":{"rendered":"

In recent months in France<\/strong>, the \u2013 mistaken \u2013 idea has partially spread that Italy<\/strong> is experiencing a sort of \u201ceconomic miracle\u201d<\/strong> under the Meloni government<\/strong>. This narrative circulates especially in conservative and radical circles, where some argue that before warning the French population about a possible rise of the far right, it would be more sensible to assess the results of governments that share its approach \u2013 such as the Italian one.<\/p>\n

This is a position that, in France, attracts part of the electorate, especially in a historical moment marked by growing distrust in institutions<\/strong>. The current French prime minister S\u00e9bastien Lecornu<\/strong> is experiencing a moment of major political instability: he first took office in early September, but unexpectedly resigned less than a month later because he lacked sufficient support. Macron<\/strong> \u2013 as President of France \u2013 then reappointed him on October 10, but two parties (La France Insoumise, of the radical left, and the Rassemblement National, of the far right) presented motions of no confidence<\/strong>, both of which were subsequently rejected.<\/p>\n

What is wrong with Italy\u2019s economic policy<\/p>\n

France has never experienced a far-right<\/strong> majority, but using the Italian example to argue that such a government is harmless in itself, or even efficient in certain fields (such as the economy), is quite a distortion. The Italian deficit<\/strong> is indeed being managed better than the French one, as of today, but Italy\u2019s public debt remains much higher and economic growth<\/strong> has essentially been stagnant for a long time \u2013 despite a degree of governmental stability that is rather atypical for Italian standards.<\/p>\n

The government led by Giorgia Meloni<\/a>, and in particular the Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti<\/strong>, is generally credited with keeping a prudent management of the public accounts<\/strong>: spending has been contained and the deficit reduced in order to fully comply with European rules, at times even following a line more rigorous than that suggested by the Commission. But there is a catch. After the fourth budget law approved by the Meloni government, another aspect of the executive\u2019s economic strategy is becoming increasingly clear: the almost total absence of structural reforms<\/strong> or measures capable of stimulating the country\u2019s growth \u2013 and this is no small issue.<\/p>\n

Where the theory of the Italian \u201ceconomic miracle\u201d comes from<\/p>\n

The narrative that has become popular in France regarding the alleged Italian \u201ceconomic miracle\u201d stems mainly from the fact that the Meloni government has been very cautious in its budgetary policy<\/strong>. However, the issue is indeed more complex: what is missing in the executive\u2019s economic approach are ambitious reforms<\/strong> in favor of businesses (both small and large), productivity, and investments. Confindustria<\/strong><\/a> has described the country\u2019s growth as \u00abanemic\u00bb, and the same view has been expressed by other public institutions monitoring the government\u2019s economic policy, such as the Bank of Italy<\/strong> and the Court of Auditors<\/strong>. Moreover, according to many observers, the already modest growth forecasts for Italian GDP<\/strong> (0.5% in 2025, 0.7% in 2026 and 2027) risk being overly optimistic.<\/p>\n

According to the French newspaper Lib\u00e9ration<\/a>, the Meloni government has benefited from measures approved by previous governments, especially that of Mario Draghi<\/strong>, and from European contributions, which were crucial in preventing the country from slipping into recession<\/strong>. The model pursued by the majority is therefore not an economic success and offers no reason to believe that a potential rise of the far right in France would be harmless, even if it followed the Italian example.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In recent months in France, the \u2013 mistaken \u2013 idea has partially spread that Italy is experiencing a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":619896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,36,2440],"class_list":{"0":"post-619895","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-france","11":"tag-giorgia-meloni"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115683616678552369","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}