{"id":901,"date":"2024-04-17T13:16:49","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T11:16:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rivistaeco.com\/?p=901"},"modified":"2024-05-27T19:46:10","modified_gmt":"2024-05-27T17:46:10","slug":"eco-a-response-to-economic-denialism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rivistaeco.com\/en\/2024\/04\/17\/eco-a-response-to-economic-denialism\/","title":{"rendered":"Eco, a response to economic denialism"},"content":{"rendered":"

At Eco, our aim is to meet the growing demand for high-quality information on economic topics. In addressing the many issues that affect citizens\u2019 daily lives, we will primarily let the data speak, using straightforward language while avoiding oversimplification. We will do so without distorting statistics to fit preconceived theories<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a common thread linking initiatives such as lavoce.info (and its English counterpart VoxEU), the economics festival (first in Trento and now in Turin), and <\/span>Eco<\/b>. It is the attempt to respond to a growing demand for high-quality information on economic topics. Many are looking for tools to better navigate daily decisions and to form an opinion on more general economic issues. Our aim is to meet these needs by disseminating the results of research with significant implications for the well-being of millions of people, while making it easier for the general public to understand them. You will not find in these pages, not even in the \u201cUnderstanding Finance\u201d column, tips for stock market investments. We will not mimic radio and TV that disproportionately allocate time to these matters compared to the low percentage of households investing in equity securities in Italy. Instead, we will offer you tools to better understand the complex world of finance. We will also cover employment, prices, housing, health, taxes, income distribution, social welfare, innovation, immigration, social cohesion, and many other topics relevant to the daily lives of the vast majority of Italians.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addressing these issues, we will also share with you readers a method, the way economists select and interpret the ever-growing amount of information available online. Often, it is too much: it is easy to get lost on the web. Contrary to what is happening in the information world, we have chosen print, a medium that distracts the reader\u2019s attention less and consequently allows for greater depth. This depth is key as all economic problems are complex. We will try to describe the subject-matter in simple terms, but without ever trivializing what we are focusing on, as we are aware that most significant issues are difficult to resolve. After all, if they could be easily resolved, someone in the world would have already untangled the mess.<\/span><\/p>\n

Principles guiding editorial choices<\/b><\/h3>\n

While featuring diverse opinions, <\/span>Eco\u2019s <\/b>editorial choices will be based on the following principles. The first principle is to <\/span>evaluate public policies on the basis of data<\/b>. In Italy, there is still reluctance to rely on numbers when it comes to economic policy decisions. Decisions are often made \u201cintuitively,\u201d based on reasoning devoid of objective evidence. And the experience drawn from previously endorsed policies is not capitalized on. This undermines the decisions made. We do not learn from successes, even less from mistakes. To make an evaluation, methods and data are needed. Therefore, at the risk of being pedantic, many numbers, figures (including the <\/span>chart of the month<\/span><\/i>), and tables will be featured in the magazine, accompanied by detailed explanations of how the data were collected and analyzed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The second principle is that <\/span>data cannot be intimidated<\/b>. In Italy, especially, there is a dangerous habit in public debate. When statistics reveal something different from the intended message, the reasons for such discrepancy are not sought; instead, the statistics are blamed rather than the convictions themselves. It is argued that statistics are unreliable, thus attempting to dismiss them. This attitude is harmful because it deprives us of a shared knowledge base from which to form an opinion. We remain anchored to our prejudices, to our a priori beliefs without having the courage to verify their validity. Similar to Dostoevsky\u2019s universe, everyone believes what they want, that is, that they are the sole possessor of the truth. This way, we learn nothing from public debate. Democratic control over the actions of governments and institutions is also less significant. Take unemployment figures: if we question them, how can we assess whether the current government has succeeded in reducing the number of job seekers?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The third principle is to reject <\/span>economic denialism<\/b>. For some time, not only in Italy, there has been a hostile attitude against experts, fueled by populist rhetoric and uncritical access to the Internet. This is especially true in the social sciences. The fact is that everyone has become familiar with economics jargon, leading many to think of themselves as economists, just as during the World Cup, everyone becomes the coach of the national football team. Every day I receive proposals for measures that, according to their proponents, could be immediately implemented in our country, magically erasing public debt, making everyone richer, and inevitably allowing for an increase in the pensions of those who write to me. As if these were simple problems that no one had ever understood. The most serious consequence is that in this climate, there is room for theses fueled deliberately by interest groups, benefiting from the implementation of plans as compelling (and adventurous) as they are abstruse. Here\u2019s the labor market described as a bus during rush hour, where to make room for those who want to get on, others must first get off (perhaps by sending them into retirement). Here are the tax cuts that supposedly finance themselves, here are the cryptocurrencies described as safe currencies that free us from the tyranny of banks. Here is real estate touted as the cure-all for Italy\u2019s economic woes. And we could go on. The best way to counter economic denialism is to have the humility to substantiate assertions as much as possible, never ceasing to emphasize that it is impossible to generalize and apply them to very different contexts. This will be the method we intend to follow.<\/span><\/p>\n

What you will find in the pages of Eco<\/b><\/h3>\n

Each issue of the monthly magazine will have a thematic section, addressing a problem from different angles to provide the reader with as complete an overview as possible of its various facets. In this first issue, we wanted to address an apparent contradiction. Like in other countries, we are at historical highs in terms of employment rates (the number of employed in relation to the working-age population) and historical lows in unemployment rates (the unemployed in relation to the labor force), even though in the South many women, especially younger women, are looking for work without success. The number of wage earners, employed workers, and people with permanent contracts, rather than those with a fixed expiry date, has increased. Yet, there is still a strong (and even growing according to some surveys) dissatisfaction with the evolution of the labor market and the economic prospects of one\u2019s family and the country as a whole. Moreover, job creation (half a million in the last year alone) appears at odds with the sharp slowdown in economic growth. We believe that the purchasing power of wages has significantly decreased over the past two years because, unlike in other countries, wages have not kept pace with price increases. The loss of purchasing power of wages has been particularly pronounced among workers (unlike during the years of wage indexing) and contributes to the fact that many people remain poor even though they work. In other words, the dissatisfaction stems from the fact that <\/span>there is, yes, more work, but with lighter pay packets<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, we are not satisfied with this initial answer. The next question is why has the purchasing power of wages decreased? Why do our salaries struggle so much to keep pace with inflation? We analyze the collective bargaining system and prove that it does not work: contracts expire and are not renewed except with great delays, the number of so-called \u201cpirate\u201d contracts, which, according to our findings, lower wages by an average of 10% compared to the levels set in those signed by major trade unions, has greatly increased. Moreover, we show that trade unions are much weaker than they would have us believe, highlighting that unionization rates (the number of union members out of the total workforce) are probably far below the levels declared by the unions themselves. We highlight how poverty among those who work is largely due to the fact that many women do not work, that often there is only one income earner in a family. We also try to propose solutions for this state of affairs: from policies balancing work and family responsibilities to the introduction of a minimum wage. We show how it would be dangerous to remove entirely the economic support for poor families whose head of household is of working age and has no minor children or persons with disabilities in their household, as envisaged by the ongoing cuts to the Citizens\u2019 Income: even assuming the head of household finds a job, it too often does not result into a route out of poverty.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We also want to <\/span>echo<\/b> research that has not yet made the headlines. In this issue, we will discuss the outcomes of information campaigns on violence against women in Turkey, a country where victims of violence are blamed much more than elsewhere and which has repudiated the international convention, signed in Istanbul, against gender-based violence. In the <\/span>green article of the month<\/span><\/i> (because Eco is also about ecology), we will discuss the political reasons behind the failure to launch policies for the green transition. We will disclose the results of studies on the effects of Swift sanctions that prevent banks in some countries (Iran, Russia) from communicating with financial intermediaries in other countries. And we will show how Donald Trump is far from being a self-made man. In reality, he squandered the wealth transferred to him repeatedly by his father, who also saved him from bankruptcy on several occasions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Each issue of the magazine will include regular columns, from the one on finance mentioned above to one dedicated to Artificial Intelligence. We will shed light on the functioning of European institutions and the sovereignty we would lose if we were to withdraw from the ongoing integration process in our continent. To have sovereignty in our country over issues like the environment, immigration, defense, we must have it at the continental level, because that is the minimum scale at which these problems can be managed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, <\/span>Eco<\/b> will draw vital strength from the network of contributors at lavoce.info, although it is a different project, which cannot rely solely on the voluntary contribution of a large number of scholars. Hence the decision to charge for the information we provide, both in the print version and the web version. Hence the decision to collect paid advertising, with the intention, however, of making it less invasive than the one that today inevitably interferes with our reading of newspapers on the Internet. It will never overlap with the article you are reading; it will never require you to wait for a few seconds before you can access the information you are looking for. Unlike lavoce.info, we will also have an English version. Because <\/span>Eco<\/b> wants to present Italy to the world beyond stereotypes and allow Italians to learn from what happens elsewhere. To this end, we expect an important contribution on the issues to be addressed by our readers, wherever they may be. Happy reading, then, looking forward to reading you.<\/span><\/p>\n

direttore@rivistaeco.<\/span>com<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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