意大利是时候跟贝卢斯科尼说再见了

    例如，莱塔最近被迫取消一项有争议的首套房房产税，否则将面临贝卢斯科尼的政党撤离联合政府的风险。取消这项明智的税收来源将使意大利的预算损失30亿欧元，造成巨大的财务窟窿。由于这项税费的取消，欧盟和国际货币基金组织（IMF）担心意大利将无法完成它本年度的财政目标，因此正在恳请罗马重新权衡这个决定。

    但房产税问题还只是九牛一毛。如果意大利能收回这上面损失的税收当然挺好，但对解决意大利的债务问题仍然是杯水车薪。尽管如此，通过取消这项税收，意大利给出了一个信号——它并不真的在意达到财政目标，因为这个举动使它平衡预算、减少债务的长征变得更加困难。

    另一方面，莱塔的左倾政党还要依靠来自意大利各类工会的大力支持。因此，只要他掌权，推行任何实质性的劳动力市场改革举措的几率似乎都显得渺茫。而改革意大利糟糕的劳动法被视为是让这个国家重回稳健财政之路的一个必要条件，如果不进行改革，意大利面临新一轮财政危机只是时间问题。

    但如果意大利摆脱政治混乱，允许一个未经选举的技术型政府接管，至少将必要的改革措施实施到位，它将变得更加强大。上一届政府在2011年垮台时已经出现过这种局面。当时，经济学家马里奥•蒙蒂获得了国家的管理权，而且实施了一系列能够稳定意大利的艰难改革。虽然这些改革措施没有一些更加保守的经济学家希望的那么有力，但它们仍然给市场带来了希望——意大利正走在正轨上，有一天它能减少债务。

    此后蒙蒂也转变成了政治家，今年年初他成立了自己的中立派议员人民选择党（Civic Choice），而且成为了意大利政坛上少数孤独理智的声音之一。当被问到他对莱塔取消房产税的想法时，蒙蒂说这么做“软弱无能、胆小怕事”。这才是意大利现在需要的领导力。这样才能最终摆脱贝卢斯科尼和这个无能的联合政府。（财富中文网）

    译者：默默  

    For example, Letta was recently forced to cancel a controversial property tax on first homes, or risk having Berlusconi's party pull out of the coalition. The loss of this sensible revenue source will leave a massive, 3 billion-euro hole in the Italian budget. The EU and IMF are concerned that Italy will not be able to meet its fiscal targets for the year as a result of this move and are imploring Rome to reconsider.

    But the property tax debacle is just a drop in the bucket. While it would be nice for Italy to recoup that lost revenue, it will hardly move the needle when it comes to fixing Italy's debt problems. Nevertheless, by withdrawing it, Italy is sending a signal that it doesn't really give a damn about getting back on fiscal targets as the move makes it that much harder to balance the budget and begin the long march to paying down its debt.

    On the flip side, Letta's left-leaning party counts on the nation's various unions for a great deal of support, so any chance of meaningful labor reform seems doubtful as long as Letta is at the helm. Reforming Italy's terrible labor laws is seen as a necessary component to getting the country back on the road to fiscal soundness -- without it, it will just be a matter of time before the country faces yet another fiscal crisis.

    But out of the political chaos, Italy could emerge stronger if an unelected technocrat government is allowed to take control -- at least until necessary reforms are put in place. This occurred when the last Italian government fell at the end of 2011. Economist Mario Monti was given the reins and he was able to put in place a number of tough reforms needed to stabilize Italy. While they weren't as strong as some of the more conservative economists would have liked, they still gave the market hope that the country was on its way to someday paying down its debt.

    Monti has since morphed into a politician with the founding of his own centrist Civic Choice party earlier this year and remains one of the lone sane voices in Italian politics. When asked what he thought of Letta's decision to withdraw the property tax, Monti said it was, "gutless and spineless." That is the sort of leadership Italy needs right now. Good riddance to Mr. Berlusconi and this dysfunctional coalition.