venerdì 16 ottobre 2009

A Bank for Southern Italy...

I'm waiting to read the letter by Roberto Saviano published on the next issue of the italian magazine "L?Espresso". In the meantime, I exploit just few minutes to make some reflections about the future "Bank for Southern Italy"

The idea inspiring the creation of this bank should be the assumption to create an institution capable to make easier, in this period of crisis and recession, access to credit for firms in Southern Italy thus stimulating productive investments. So far, so good.

Yet, I wonder if in Italy we are able to learn the lessons from the past or not.

The first thing I have in mind is that creating such a bank finally means arrange a new "structure" in administrative terms: all this can be translated into "positions", "roles", "jobs", a chairman, a director, a secretary and so on. This in Italy means "political power".

In addition, things are always the same: it is true that firms in Southern Italy, above all small and medium firms, face increasing difficulties in access to credit, but if the reduction and elimination of political corruption, organized crime, bribes and cheats are not a nabsolute priority any initiative, also the best one, will crash against a wall.

So I wonder: is there anybody who really thinks that a "bank for Southern Italy" may solve the rust of a sclerotic bureaucracy, nepotism, corruption, the lack of trust and role of the law? How many incentives really exist, in Southern Italy as well as in the rest of Italy, for a young man/woman who intend to start an activity? What kind of real dis-incentives really hamper the possibility to start an activity on the base of creativity and spirit of initiative and to make his/her own ideas concrete business actions?

If the real problems of Southern Italy (which are diffused problems nationwide) aren't effectively solved through an ethical and cultural re-generation with the respect of the role of the law and trasparency, any initiative not only won't be improductive but finally will fuel the already well working corruption machine...

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