[Brilliant]

Why is Italy going into recession right when the rest of the world is coming out?

[a freedom-loving italian]

Why is Italy going into recession right when the rest of the world is coming out?

IMHO there are two main causes

1) Italy is competing in the same markets as China like the textile, shoe-making, furnitures, etc... In these markets the strong Euro is badly damaging Italian exports.
2) the adoption of the Euro in Italy has determined a big jump in the level of prices with this result: prices have reached a "German" level but wages have not. Hence the middle class is getting poorer and poorer and there is a feeling of creeping pessimism about the future.

But here we are talking about the short run. In the long run a strong deregulation of the economy is badly needed in order to avoid a creeping decline.