[thinkindie]

sorry but I don't buy that much this argument anymore. I'm Italian living in Germany, I see exactly the same kind of issues that are holding back Italy economy (minus endemic organised crime) but still Germany has a far stronger economy.

You have high taxes, slow and intricate bureaucracy (it took more than 3 months to complete the house purchase process in Germany whereas in Italy is far faster), low productivity, tax evasion, etc etc but somewhat Germany works slightly better than Italy that generates far better results in the end.

[agopaul]

I'm also an Italian living in Germany and I know what you mean. But I wasn't referring to the myth of Germany productivity, which is debatable. The argument is not anecdotal, rather it is just based on the numbers (eg. GDP per hour worked, among others).

[znpy]

italian living in italy here.

you're bot not mentioning irregular work and tax evasions. that and the fact that some regions produce a net positive in terms of per-capita gdp while other produce a net negative (a significant net negative).