This paper reviews the main macroeconomic trends and the debate on policy priorities in Italy since the end of the Nineties. In the decade up to the outbreak of the global crisis (1998-2007), in Italy the reform process came to a virtual standstill; this is partly due to the fragmentation of the...

This paper reviews the main macroeconomic trends and the debate on policy priorities in Italy since the advent of EMU. It argues that, in the decade up to the outbreak of the global crisis (1998-2007), in Italy the reform process came to a virtual standstill and fiscal policy was inconsistent...

Doubts continue to be expressed about the net benefits of announcing an explicit inflation objective versus a more balanced set of goals that include an overt concern over real economic developments. This is true even if major central banks that do not explicitly target inflation (e.g., the US...