The Italian Economy: Heaven or Hell? (Central Issues in Contemporary Economic Theory and Policy)

This new series is a joint initiative between Macmillan, St. Martin's Press and SIP!, the publishing company of Confindustria (the Confederation of Italian Industry), based on the book collectionMONOGRAFIE RPE published bySIPI and originated from the new editorial programme of one of the oldest Italian journals of economics, the Rivista di Politica Economica, founded in 1911. This series is intended to become an arena in which the most topical economic problems are freely debated and confronted with different scientific orientations and/ or political theories. The 1990s clearly represent a transition period in which the world economy will establish new international relationships and in this context, new challenges and new risks will have to be faced within each economic system. Fundamental issues on which economic theory and policy have long based their reasoning over the last two or three decades have to be critically reviewed in order to pursue new frontiers for theoretical development and economic policy implementation. In this sense, this new series aims at being a "place of debate" between professional economists, an updated learning tool for students and a specific reference for a wider readership aiming at understanding economic theory and policy evolution even from a non-specialist point of view. Front Matter....Pages 1-5 Introduction: the 80s’ Dream, the 90s’ Nightmare....Pages 7-17 Italy: the Real Effects of Inflation and Disinflation....Pages 19-59 Restructuring Processes, Technological Change and Economic Growth....Pages 61-82 The Role of Monetary and Financial Policies in the Restructuring of Industry....Pages 83-109 Disinflation in Italy: An Analysis with the Econometric Model of the Bank of Italy....Pages 111-155 The Government Budget and the Italian Economy During the 1970s and 1980s: Causes of the Debt, Strategy for Recovery, and Prospects for Restructuring....Pages 157-217 Back Matter....Pages 218-222 Contains five essays by Italian economists who give an analysis of the "new miracle" of the 1980s - the wide and deep industrial restructuring process which gave new impulse to Italy's economic growth - and the 1990s "nightmare" - the explosion of both government deficit and debt.