Italy remains the weakest link in the Eurozone chain. In contrast, labor productivity in the Eurozone outside Italy rose by a cumulative 22% in the 20 years until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020. The new upstart is Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the right-wing Fratelli d’Italia party, a party with some post-fascist roots. Opinion polls project that her Fratelli (“Brothers” in Italian) party will garner about 25% of the popular vote in the September 25 election. Italy arguably suffered its worst political accident already, in 2018, when the then-dominant populists from the right and left, Five Star and Lega, combined to form a government.

Source: Washington Post September 22, 2022 11:40 UTC