Anna Masera recently made a heartfelt plea that something be done about the state of her nation's economy, citing considerable evidence that Italy is the economic basket case of Europe.
It's true that by the standard economic measures, Italy's economy was struggling badly even before the financial crisis hit. Further, it suffers from a regional disparity of wealth which dwarves the north-south divide here in the UK – per capita GDP in the poor south is half that of the country as a whole. And its record on integrating immigrant communities into the economy is also very poor. Nonetheless, from what I saw on a recent visit, one small corner of the admittedly more prosperous north appears to be in impressively rude economic health.
Of course, two weeks of cloudless skies, cold beer and exquisite Italian food can make for an overly optimistic world view, but there was plenty of evidence to confirm my belief that the countries of continental Europe have made a better job than we Brits of maintaining the social infrastructure necessary to protect communities from the ravages of global capitalism.
We spent our first week in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, a small town in the hills north of Lucca. Sufficiently inaccessible to be out of reach of all but the most determined tourist, this is a community where economic development appears to have proceeded at a manageable pace, and on a reassuringly human scale. An economically self-sustaining small town (population around 6,000) where, according to the latest census data, the workforce of 3,520 is divided between 878 different firms. That's an average of 4.5 people per workplace; most of which were either owner managed, or run as cooperatives.
The town is not especially wealthy, but what wealth exists appears to be evenly distributed, as you'd expect where business ownership is spread widely and many people are self-employed. There are no big supermarkets and no chains, although many recognisable brands are available from independently owned shops. The result is a far greater greater variety of outlets and goods than you would find in a British town of similar size or location.
During the week long summer festival that coincided with our visit, each evening the townspeople turned out it in vast numbers to eat and drink, the latter in noticeable moderation. Happy – and exceptionally well-dressed – teenagers rubbed shoulders with people four times their age. Despite the large crowds there was no hint of threatening or anti-social behaviour.
The same was evident when we moved onto Levanto, a small seaside town with a successful tourism-based economy. Again there were no supermarkets or chains, just well-run owner-managed businesses which stocked everything you could possibly need at reasonable prices. There was little sign of great riches in either town, but evidence of a social wealth that Britain seems to have lost in its rush to embrace the global economy.
Italy's economy is neither the most stable nor productive in Europe, but despite, or perhaps because of this, it does appear to serve the needs of people in many rural communities for employment and leisure, and in a way that further cements community cohesion. In the UK, many rural communities have been decimated by a national economy geared principally to meeting the demands of global markets.
So what have the Italians done differently? History, geography, culture and religion all play a role. Unlike Britain, Italy didn't have to endure the rapid enclosure of land that foreshadowed the industrial revolution. People weren't forced into large towns so the economy never developed into one in which the majority are dependent on employment by someone else. Not everyone in rural Italy is self-employed, but self employment seems a more viable prospect than it is in much of Britain.
Perhaps the fact that Italy only became a unified political entity in 1861 has worked in its favour. Whatever the secret of its apparent success – despite almost third world levels of poverty in parts of the South, it ranked 8th in The Economist's 2005 quality of life index (pdf) while the UK languished in 29th – it doesn't seem to have anything much to do with politics, unless its trademark political instability has allowed Italians to get on with the business of living, and to work out for themselves those aspects of modernity that suit them, and ignore the rest.
The lesson for the UK? I'm not sure how you undo the damage inflicted on small communities left unprotected from the downside of globalisation. What is clear from the Italian example is that small towns thrive when the ownership of economic resources and access to opportunities is widely distributed. Castelnuovo and Levanto are, in their different ways, perfect examples of Schumacher's dictum that Small is Beautiful; at least if you want an equitable economic base on which to create a happy and healthy society.