Italian economic miracle
The Italian economic miracle (Italian: il miracolo economico) is the name often used by historians, economists and mass media[1] to designate the prolonged period of sustained economic growth in Italy comprised between the end of World War II and the late 1960s, and in particular the years 1950-63.[2] This phase of Italian history represented not only a cornerstone in the economic and social development of the country, that was transformed from a poor, mainly rural nation into a major industrial power, but also a period of exceptional flowering in arts and culture.[3] As summed up by one historian, by the end of the Seventies,
“Social security coverage had been made comprehensive and relatively generous. The material standard of living had vastly improved for the great majority of the population."[4]
The period coincided with the international post–World War II economic expansion.
[edit] History
After the end of World War II, Italy was in rubble and occupied by foreign armies, like Germany and other Axis powers, a condition that worsened the chronic development gap towards the more advanced European economies. However, the new geopolitical logic of the Cold War made possible that the former enemy Italy, a hinge-country between Western Europe and the Mediterranean, and now a new, fragile democracy threatened by the proximity of the Iron Curtain and the presence of a strong Communist party,[5] was considered by the USA as an important ally for the Free World, and therefore admitted to the generous aids provided by the Marshall Plan, receiving $ 1,204 million from 1947 to 1951. The end of the Plan, that could have stopped the recovery, coincided with the crucial point of the Korea War (1950–1953), whose demand for metal and other manufactured products was a further stimulus to the growth of every kind of industry in Italy. In addition, the creation in 1957 of the European Common Market, of which Italy was among the founder members, provided more investments and eased exports.
These highly favorable historical backgrounds, combined with the presence of a large and cheap stock of labour force, laid the foundations of a spectacular economic growth, that lasted almost uninterrupted until the "Hot Autumn's" massive strikes and social unrest of 1969-70, that combined with the later 1973 oil crisis, put an abrupt end to the prolonged boom. It has been calculated that the Italian economy experienced an average rate of growth of GDP of 5.8% per year between 1951–63, and 5.0% per year between 1964-73.[6] Italian rates of growth were second only, but very close, to the German rates, in Europe, and among the OEEC countries only Japan had been doing better.[7] In 1963, US President John F. Kennedy personally praised Italy's extraordinary economic growth at an official dinner with Italian President Antonio Segni in Rome, stating that "the growth of [...] nation's economy, industry, and living standards in the postwar years has truly been phenomenal. A nation once literally in ruins, beset by heavy unemployment and inflation, has expanded its output and assets, stabilized its costs and currency, and created new jobs and new industries at a rate unmatched in the Western world".[8]
[edit] References
- ^ Life, November 24, 1967 (p.48)
- ^ Nicholas Crafts, Gianni Toniolo (1996). Economic growth in Europe since 1945. Cambridge University Press. p. 441. ISBN 0-521-49627-6.
- ^ David Forgacs, Stephen Gundle (2007). Mass culture and Italian society from fascism to the Cold War. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-21948-0.
- ^ Italy, a difficult democracy: a survey of Italian politics by Frederic Spotts and Theodor Wieser
- ^ Michael J. Hogan (1987). The Marshall Plan: America, Britain, and the reconstruction of Western Europe, 1947-1952. Cambridge University Press. pp. 44–45. ISBN 0-521-37840-0.
- ^ Nicholas Crafts, Gianni Toniolo (1996). Economic growth in Europe since 1945. Cambridge University Press. p. 428. ISBN 0-521-49627-6.
- ^ Ennio Di Nolfo (1992). Power in Europe? II: Great Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, and the Origins of the EEC 1952-57. Berlin: de Gruyter. p. 198. ISBN 3-11-012158-1.
- ^ http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=9331&st=italy&st1=
