Editing Economy of Italy (section)

=== Great Recession ===
[[File:Italy GDP.webp|thumb|300px|Italy real quarterly GDP]]
[[File:GDP per capita big four Western Europe.PNG|thumb|right|GDP per capita of Italy, France, Germany and Britain from 1970 to 2008]]
[[File:Italy bonds.webp|thumb|300px|{{center|Italy bonds}}
[[European debt crisis]] in 2011 <br> [[Negative interest on excess reserves|negative interest rates]] 2015-2022
{{legend-line|#73FDEA solid 3px|50 year}}
{{legend-line|#FFD932 solid 3px|20 year}}
{{legend-line|#008C45 solid 3px|10 year}}
{{legend-line|#CD212A solid 3px|2 year}}
{{legend-line|#929292 solid 3px|1 year}}
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]]
Italy was among the countries hit hardest by the [[Great Recession]] of 2008–2009 and the subsequent [[European debt crisis]]. The national economy shrunk by 6.76% during the whole period, totaling seven-quarters of recession.<ref name="OECD">{{cite web |url=http://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?queryid=350 |title=Quarterly Growth Rates of real GDP, change over previous quarter |publisher=[[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]] |access-date=8 February 2015 |archive-date=5 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405042217/https://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?queryid=350 |url-status=live }}</ref> In November 2011 the Italian bond yield was 6.74 per cent for 10-year bonds, nearing a 7 per cent level where Italy is thought to lose access to financial markets.<ref>{{cite news|first1=Barry|last1=Moody|first2=James|last2=Mackenzie|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/08/us-italy-idUSTRE7A72NG20111108|title=Berlusconi to resign after parliamentary setback|date=8 November 2011|work=[[Reuters]]|access-date=8 February 2015|archive-date=18 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918220156/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/08/us-italy-idUSTRE7A72NG20111108|url-status=live}}</ref> According to [[Eurostat]], in 2015 the [[Italian government debt]] stood at 128% of GDP, ranking as the second biggest debt ratio after [[Greece]] (with 175%).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=teina225&plugin=1 |title=General government gross debt |publisher=[[Eurostat]] |access-date=8 February 2015 |archive-date=6 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206104737/http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=teina225&plugin=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, the biggest chunk of Italian public debt is owned by Italian nationals and relatively high levels of private savings and low levels of private indebtedness are seen as making it the safest among Europe's struggling economies.<ref>{{cite web |first=Lisa |last=Auret |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2010/05/18/could-italy-be-better-off-than-its-peers.html |title=Could Italy Be Better Off than its Peers? |publisher=[[CNBC]] |date=18 May 2010 |access-date=30 May 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430030613/http://www.cnbc.com/id/37207942/Could_Italy_Be_Better_Off_than_its_Peers |archive-date=30 April 2011  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Rachel|last=Sanderson|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7756acd4-1cdf-11e0-8c86-00144feab49a.html#axzz1SIwD9iir |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/fFr0o |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Italian deficit narrows in third quarter| newspaper=[[Financial Times]] |date=10 January 2011 |access-date=16 July 2011}}</ref> As a shock therapy to avoid the debt crisis and kick-start growth, the [[national unity government]] led by the economist [[Monti Cabinet|Mario Monti]] launched a program of massive [[austerity measures]], that brought down the deficit but precipitated the country in a [[double-dip recession]] in 2012 and 2013, receiving criticism from numerous economists.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Krugman|first1=Paul|title=Austerity, Italian-Style|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/opinion/krugman-austerity-italian-style.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/opinion/krugman-austerity-italian-style.html |archive-date=2022-01-03 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=26 November 2017|work=The New York Times|date=24 February 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Orsi|first1=Roberto|title=The Demise of Italy and the Rise of Chaos|newspaper=Euro Crisis in the Press |date=8 October 2013|url=http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/eurocrisispress/2013/10/08/the-demise-of-italy-and-the-rise-of-chaos/|publisher=[[London School of Economics]]|access-date=26 November 2017|archive-date=12 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412122838/https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/eurocrisispress/2013/10/08/the-demise-of-italy-and-the-rise-of-chaos/|url-status=live}}</ref>