The existence of the first has been borne out on many occasions by history and by the literature. 5 The second depends on the people, civil servants and politicians generating together the right policies. We are talking mainly of structural policies: economic development is a long-term issue, barely related to the economic cycle and to macroeconomic stabilization policies.
In fact, important structural policies have been put in place in Italy in recent years: for example, the pension reform and the labour market reform (the Jobs Act). However, there is still much to be done if our economy is to become modern and innovative.