Editing Economy of Italy (section)

=== The 1970s and 1980s: from stagflation to "il sorpasso" ===
[[File:G7 leaders 1978.jpg|thumb|Prime Minister [[Giulio Andreotti]] (far left) with [[G7]] leaders in [[Bonn]], 1978]]

The 1970s were a period of economic, political turmoil and social unrest in Italy, known as [[Years of Lead (Italy)|Years of lead]]. Unemployment rose sharply, especially among the young, and by 1977 there were one million unemployed people under the age of 24. Inflation continued, aggravated by the increases in the price of oil in 1973 and 1979. The budget deficit became permanent and intractable, averaging about 10 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), higher than any other industrial country. The lira fell steadily, from [[Italian lira|Lire&nbsp;]]560 to the U.S. dollar in 1973 to Lire&nbsp;1,400 in 1982.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/297474/Italy/27780/Demographic-and-social-change |title=Italy since 1945: Demographic and social change |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |access-date=8 February 2015 |archive-date=9 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209055816/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/297474/Italy/27780/Demographic-and-social-change |url-status=live }}</ref>

The economic recession went on into the mid-1980s until a set of reforms led to the independence of the [[Banca d'Italia|Bank of Italy]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Vicarelli|first1=Fausto|last2=Sylla|first2=Richard|last3=Cairncross|first3=Alec|title=Central banks' independence in historical perspective|date=1988|publisher=[[Walter de Gruyter]]|location=[[Berlin]]|page=180|isbn=978-3110114409}}</ref> and a big reduction of the indexation of wages<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Italy since 1945: The economy in the 1980s |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/297474/Italy/27784/The-economy-in-the-1980s |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |access-date=8 February 2015 |archive-date=7 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107133053/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/297474/Italy/27784/The-economy-in-the-1980s |url-status=live }}</ref> that strongly reduced inflation rates, from 20.6% in 1980 to 4.7% in 1987.<ref>{{cite web|title=L'Italia in 150 anni. Sommario di statistiche storiche 1861–2010|url=http://www3.istat.it/dati/catalogo/20120118_00/|publisher=[[National Institute of Statistics (Italy)|ISTAT]]|access-date=8 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209072207/http://www3.istat.it/dati/catalogo/20120118_00/|archive-date=9 February 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The new macroeconomic and political stability resulted in a second, export-led "economic miracle", based on [[small and medium-sized enterprises]], producing clothing, leather products, shoes, furniture, textiles, jewellery, and machine tools. As a result of this rapid expansion, in 1987 Italy overtook the UK's economy (an event known as ''[[Il sorpasso (economics)|il sorpasso]]''), becoming the fourth richest nation in the world, after the US, Japan and [[West Germany]].<ref name="Vietor2001">{{cite web|first=Richard|last=Vietor|title=Italy's Economic Half-Miracle|url=http://www.strategy-business.com/article/17213?gko=2b421|date=1 April 2001|publisher=[[Strategy&]]|access-date=8 October 2014|archive-date=20 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171120074606/https://www.strategy-business.com/article/17213?gko=2b421|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Milan stock exchange]] increased its market capitalization more than fivefold in the space of a few years.<ref>{{cite web|title=Italian Stock Exchange: Main Indicators (1975–2012)|url=http://www.borsaitaliana.it/borsaitaliana/ufficio-stampa/dati-storici/principaliindicatori2012_pdf.htm|publisher=[[Borsa Italiana]]|access-date=8 February 2015|archive-date=6 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106211102/https://www.borsaitaliana.it/borsaitaliana/ufficio-stampa/dati-storici/principaliindicatori2012_pdf.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

However, the Italian economy of the 1980s presented a problem: it was booming, thanks to increased productivity and surging exports, but unsustainable fiscal deficits drove the growth.<ref name="Vietor2001"/> In the 1990s, the new [[Maastricht criteria]] boosted the urge to curb the public debt, already at 104% of GDP in 1992.<ref>{{cite web|title=Italy: General government gross debt (Percent of GDP)|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=46&pr.y=19&sy=1988&ey=2019&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=136&s=GGXWDG_NGDP&grp=0&a=|publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]]|access-date=8 October 2014|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235854/http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=46&pr.y=19&sy=1988&ey=2019&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=136&s=GGXWDG_NGDP&grp=0&a=|url-status=live}}</ref> The consequent restrictive economic policies worsened the impact of the [[early 1990s recession|global recession]] already underway. After a brief recovery at the end of the 1990s, high tax rates and [[red tape]] caused the country to stagnate between 2000 and 2008.<ref>{{cite book |last=Balcerowicz |first=Leszek |year=2013 |title=Economic Growth in the European Union |url=http://www.lisboncouncil.net/growth/documents/LISBON_COUNCIL_Economic_Growth_in_the_EU%20(1).pdf |location=[[Brussels]] |publisher=Lisbon Council |page=13 |isbn=978-9-0902-7915-2 |access-date=8 October 2014 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714205108/http://www.lisboncouncil.net/growth/documents/LISBON_COUNCIL_Economic_Growth_in_the_EU%20(1).pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title="Secular stagnation" in graphics|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2014/11/secular-stagnation-graphics|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=19 November 2014|access-date=8 February 2015|archive-date=23 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141123234145/http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2014/11/secular-stagnation-graphics|url-status=live}}</ref>