According to the latest data released by Istat (February 2025), the industrial production index registered a 2.7% contraction compared to the same month of the previous year. This decline exacerbates a long-standing structural problem: Italian industrial production has significantly decreased since the 2008 crisis. Yet, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni does not seem concerned about this prolonged systemic downturn. On the one hand, she announced in Parliament that the spread had fallen below 100 basis points, claiming that “Italian debt is more reliable than German debt” — ignoring the fact that this actually means Italian debt pays 100 basis points, or 1%, more in interest than German debt precisely because it is considered less reliable.
On the other hand, Meloni declared that her government’s goal is to “restore Italy’s role as a tourism superpower,” disregarding the fact that tourism is a sector with extremely low added value, limited economic spillovers, little innovation, and employment that is often precarious, poorly paid, and frequently undeclared. This narrative continues a short-sighted political vision that has become entrenched over the past two decades. In reality, the current situation did not begin with the Meloni government, but is the result of a deeply rooted and ongoing process that has unfolded over the last quarter-century, with minimal variation between successive administrations. Among them, the Renzi government deserves a particularly negative mention.
This approach fits into an economic paradigm inspired by the principles of the neoliberal agenda, based on three fundamental pillars. The first is the promotion of competition, pursued through deregulation and the opening of domestic markets — including financial markets — to international competition by removing all restrictions on the free movement of capital. The second pillar is the reduction of the role of the state, limited to establishing an institutional framework favorable to free markets. This has translated into the privatization of public enterprises and essential services (such as health care and education), along with strict limits on public spending and national debt — the so-called austerity policies. The slogan “starve the beast,” coined by Reagan, aptly summarizes this strategy. The third element is the systematic attack on trade unions, seen as an obstacle to labor market liberalization and historically defenders of workers’ rights.
Globalization has carried and amplified these principles on a global scale. Added to this is the financialization of the economy — that is, the rise of financial capital as a dominant force over productive sectors. The very nature of finance has changed, along with its relationship to the rest of the capitalist system, generating profound transformations.
However, this cycle now seems to be reaching a turning point. Global competition was initially beneficial to Western countries, which could outsource manufacturing to low-wage countries like China. But in just over twenty years, China has become not only the “factory of the world” but also a scientific and technological superpower — and this is the real reason behind Trump’s protectionist policies. Globalization enabled this evolution by fostering China’s rapid development and allowing hundreds of millions of people to escape poverty and join the middle class.
By contrast, in Western countries, globalization has led to rising inequality and the progressive impoverishment of large segments of the population. The economy has become increasingly dominated by financial markets, at the expense of investment in research and development. This has resulted in stagnation of the real economy, a decline in innovative capacity, a deterioration in job quality and security, and a deepening of social inequalities. Western societies have been profoundly transformed and weakened: low-income groups have expanded, the middle class has shrunk, and a small elite — the so-called “top 1%” — has seen exponential enrichment.
An important bulwark against this drift is represented by trade unions, which for this very reason have been the target of a systematic assault for years. While their weakening has been partly driven by the transition from industrial to financial capitalism, they remain today a crucial pillar for the preservation of democratic institutions. When working people can no longer see a stable future for themselves, and when the foundations of organized labor are dismantled, democratic participation itself loses strength and meaning.
Today, people no longer fear nuclear war or climate catastrophe simply because they no longer believe in the future of their everyday lives. This is why the fight for decent working conditions must come before — and underpin — the broader struggles for peace and the environment. It is within this context that the upcoming referendums should be understood, and this is what makes it so important to vote.
Francesco Sylos Labini 