The Tartar Steppe of Italian Growth: Strategies for Renewal in a Slowing Europe

Mauro Napoletano and Francesco Toni
Additional contact information
Mauro Napoletano: Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, GREDEG, France
Francesco Toni: Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, GREDEG, France

No 2025-44, GREDEG Working Papers from Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France

Abstract: Italy's economy has been characterized by a long-standing malaise marked by low growth, stagnant productivity, and high public debt. In recent years, these weaknesses have been compounded by declining real wages, the underutilization and outward migration of skilled labor, widening territorial disparities, and a rise in income and wealth inequality. The country's productive structure remains concentrated in traditional sectors, dominated by small firms, and underrepresented in strategic industries with high potential for productivity gains. Drawing on macroeconomic and sectoral evidence, this policy brief assesses Italy's current position and outlines the measures needed to reverse these trends. It argues for an industrial strategy that combines state–market complementarities, long-term coordination, and polycentric governance, supported by policies to halt real wage decline and reduce inequality, with the aim of rebuilding productive capacity and ensuring broadly shared prosperity.

Keywords: Italy; Public Debt; Economic Growth; Inequality; Productivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E60 E61 O40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 47 pages
Date: 2025-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mac
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://195.220.190.85/GREDEG-WP-2025-44.pdf First version (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gre:wpaper:2025-44

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in GREDEG Working Papers from Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Patrice Bougette ().