Italian Economy

I recently decided that beyond what I have learned in my humanities classes, and the specific things for my research, I really don't know all that much about Italy. So, I decided to read up on some Italian news.

Economy
Italy used to be one of the biggest economies in Europe, but is currently experiencing a lot of trouble. Turmoil started in the 1990s, when Asia took over a lot of the countries manufacturing. In 2007, the global financial crisis hit Italy's economy hard; although things were looking up in 2010, it appears that Italy's economy is not going to pull back near top anytime soon. Italy has the second highest debt of all European countries (just following Greece). Italy is the 7th largest economy in the world and now has a "stagnant economy." Most of the debt in Italy is to its own citizens. An article I read was talking about how so much of the problems in business was rooted in the fact that, outside of one's immediate family, there is a huge distrust between individuals, family, and groups. There isn't really any upward mobility in the business world in Italy, so some of the 'best and brightest' citizens are moving to other countries with better opportunities, and immigrants of the same caliber and not moving in or replacing them. Taxes are being raised and cuts to local governments is becoming increasingly more common.

I'd heard a lot of things here and there about the Italian economy, but I would have to say that I didn't know the extent of it until I read this article. I wonder how this affects day to day life for Italian citizens, and even for tourists...?

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