ITALY AT WORK

Iii1"":.~ ..... -: l; ·' imill,BnuIA;J9,‘-m‘Focus:~Italy at Work@=*‘*.*-fl->-:"In the end imagiMtion imagination is bound towin against agairtrt rationality."For a nation with no appreciable natu­naturalresources, a political system which attimes stymies the freespirit, anda adiverse— -- - -- » population only now working in syncRio Hondo Dam, ArgentinaRh "°“d° Dam’ A"g°"fl"'after 1.500 1,500 years, the words of RobertoBonini. Bonini, dean of the University of Bolo­Bologna,have a telling ring to them.Is italy Italy on a roll? Having outpacedGreat Britain in economic output, Output, is Italythe she-wolf at the doors of France andWest Germany?Will Latin inventive­inventive-_ . ness overcome Northern Northem European effi­elli-The Alfa Romeo M:Uano Mlltmociency?Since the fall of ancient Italy,Italians have had to live by their wits anddaring. Paris was once the fashion capitalbut Milan has stolen its thunder. Germanengineering may produce mechanicallysound cars but Italian machines frre lire theimagination.The U.S. may be tops inheavy construction but it is the Italianswho honor the Roman past by spanning,damming, surfacing, and redefining na­na-Motorway In in Kuwaitture on six continents.Fashion, automotives, automotivcs, construction,food p~ucts products, , computers, and the thccapital capitalinvestments that fuel the world's econ­economyare the muscle of the new Italy.Foundations of SuccessIt may surprise many that thebasis for Italy's growlh growth can be directlytraced to Benito Mussolini's CorporateState, a genuinelyRailway— - 1viaduct,-Algeria-=original but only half­halfcompletedpolitical/'economic system.TheItalianCorporate Suite State wasnot fascism with afriendly face. lace. Rather,* it served as the mechanismby which a na­Reversed engine Avanti. Stability & 8: fuelmecha-. h. h _tion bereftcg“Z321of naturalefficiency elficiency~;;;;;;;;;;;;;-The Italic Way12resources could coordinate a nationalpolicy to allocate labor and materials. ,By carefully structured stateholdingcompanies suchas IRI (Intstitutefor Industrial Reconstruction) and IMI(Italian Institute of Real Estate Develop­Development)working in tandem with such pri­private.sector firms as FlAT FIAT and AlfaRomeo, they built the foundation uponwhich Italy's current resurgence rests.The inhastructure infrastmcture of SouthernItaly was a prime beneficiary. In Cal­Calabria,for example, marshes weredrained, lakes created and electricity in­introducedto remote mountainous vil­villages.By 1939, civil aviation hadtaken a quantum leap. ‘Three Italian air­airlinesserved 71 national and internationalskyways. Olivetti, Pirelli and Agip be­be-pcame household names. And Italy;emerged as a leader in lhe the field ofnuclear‘physics with Enrico Fermi and Euore EttoreMaiorano; Majorano; and in radio communicationswith Guglielmo Marconi.These "discomforting" “discomforting" revela­revelationsabout the Facist era were broughthome to the Italians in 1984 when the:Communist-led city government goverrunent ofRome. held an unprecedented display ofFascist Italy in the Colosseum entitled"The “The Italian Economy Between theiWars."But not all success is based onthe past. Additional credit must be given ;to the native creativity of Italians both mm in 1design and busine:ss. business. Also to the ItalianRepublic which was successful in com­combattingnational chaos in the form fomt of theRed Brigades and neo-Fascists nco-Fascists whoseterrorism nearly stifled capital invest­investmentduring the 1970s, 19705, and finally, to theindividual Italian himselfwhosc whose thrift fueleclodtheeconomic cconom miracle. Italians havethe highest household savings rate ill inthe industrialized world.lu-The Italic Way 12 Fa" 1988Fall1988