7 - The Canary in the Coalmine

Summary

This chapter recapitulates the findings, showing how financial and political instabilities feed into each other. We show the correlations between financial instability and the fall in investment and between a stagnating economy and the loss of trust in the stability of the democratic system. Italy is the only case so far of a “high-income trap” leading to long-term economic decline. The resilience after the pandemic crisis testifies to two prospective fields of research: the lack of credibility in the national institutions was successfully complemented by the European institutions. The vibrancy of the economy remains as a century-old attitude of Italians: a self-defense mechanism, rooted in centuries of skepticism versus public authorities. This might be a relevant factor in the survival of liberal democracies.