April 2014, Year VI, n. 4
Emiliano Brancaccio
Tout va très bien (Madame la Marquise)?
Telos: “We’ve lived beyond our means” was the mantra used in public debate to first legitimise fiscal austerity, and now, perhaps, yet more flexibility in the labour market. The same diagnosis and the same recipe as during the 1992 financial crisis in Italy. Do you think this is a fair description of what actually happened? To what extent would you say that the crisis is having a “disciplining” effect on weaker social categories?
Emiliano Brancaccio: As long as the “mantra” applies to the national budget, then this is certainly a mistake. The idea that too much public expenditure vis-à-vis fiscal revenue indicates waste, profligacy and financial irresponsibility is based on the notion that the national budget can be managed like a family’s budget. This is misleading... more
Editorial
This issue of Primo Piano Scala c comes out on the eve of an extremely important election, perhaps carrying not just a political significance, but also a symbolic one. And yet at such a crucial crossroads in the history of Italy and Europe, public debate is often full of dogmatic statements, which risk turning concepts such as crisis, reform and European integration into mere tools to be used in a rhetorical exercise ... more
SocialTelos