The roots of Italy’s dysfunctional economy

Earlier this month, Italy’s national statistics agency estimated that 1.8m households were living in “absolute poverty”.

These families accounted for about 5m people, or 8.4 per cent of the population. One can quibble about how European definitions of poverty compare with those used in less prosperous parts of the world.

But Italy is a country where average wages are stagnant, some public services are crumbling and per capita income slips year after year behind that of its western European neighbours.

Italy’s problems have such deep roots, culturally and institutionally, that it is misleading to concentrate on the policies and pronouncements, no matter how provocative, of one politician, called Matteo Salvini.

Italy’s difficulties are a slow-burning fuse, set alight decades ago, rather than an act of arson by its present rulers. Encouraged in a pragmatic direction by Brussels and by the League’s northern Italian business allies, Mr Salvini may turn out to be less threatening to the EU political and economic order than his rhetoric suggests.

Read more on the FT, in this article penned by Tony Barber