Europe expects Italy to speak only German

Italy’s government crisis

 

International media are widely covering the Italian crisis. The picture that comes out is a glowing image of political, financial and social uncertainty.

 

The scenario portrayed in the newspapers is not the best one. The banks are still reluctant to lend money. Businesses going bankrupt. Protests are planned across the country. Nobody knows when the elections will be held.

 

Being Italian I think we are in very troubled moment.

 

Luckily there is a “but”.

 

I would like to convince you to think in a different way. This blog’s mission isn’t that of supporting a certain political party, neither to back Italy to the detriment of other countries. My objective is You, my reader who by reading these words, You want to boost your income more and more, and I am here to help You in the creation of your wealth.

 

So the “but” is very simple.

 

 

The revealed scheme

 

In my precedent posts I have revealed some big investor’s trick. With their left arm they ditched Italy while with their right arm they had bought Italian TBonds. In less than 6 months these people made a 25% profit.

 

Now you have to consider how big is the Italian public debt...so you consider what kind of sky-high revenues they were able to make. 

 

The scheme is very simple. Through the help of the media I ditch a product (Italy) and in the meanwhile I buy at knockdown prices. Once I bought enough assets I stop my discrediting campaign and I wait for the market to normalize. Then I sell my assets. 

 

This scheme is totally risk-free because Italy wasn’t at risk before the crisis nor it was at risk after the crisis.  

 

A friend of mine who is a banker, used to say “knowledge is power”. He was right.

 

This is the time to invest in Italy. This is the best time to invest in Italy.

 

Why? Because Italy is strong.  

 

However now I would like to stimulate your brain with a question. Did you ever think to the reason why some publicly discredit Italy? 

Italy is a strong country that annoys some world big players

 

However Italy has also some faults that limit its economy a lot. These are Italy’s weak points that are usually criticized:

- Unstable system;

- Italian culture of kickbacks and stealing peanuts;
 

- Thinking small, parochialism. Everywhere there are opposite factions carrying atavic hate that is spread all over the country (think to the Palio di Siena’s contradas);

- Italy’s government is always in crisis;

- Government waste a filthy amount of money and newspapers publish detailed expense notes of public officials (champagne, caviar, lotteries, video-games, beauty salon...);

- Great private investments stuck by Bureaucracy;

- Private companies left at the mercy of themselves without an international economic policy aimed at supporting them worldwide;

- Lack of Tourism infrastructures;

- Corruption;

- Tax Brackets at 85%.

All these problems are widely covered by the media. All these problems make appear Italy like a Banana Republic.

However Italy has also some records:

- It’s the 5th country in the world for cultural tourism, just think to Rome, Venice, Florence, Romeo & Juliet’s Verona, Pompei, Sicily’s valley of temples;

- The food industry is incomparable, with the Pasta, the Pizza, the espresso ( did you know that the Starbucks concept was born during a trip to Milano?), The Chianti, the Sassicaia, The Ruffino wines, the Spumante, the Parmigiano Reggiano, the prosciutto, the best oils in the world are Italians. Italy is also a prime producer of Caviar with Agroittica Lombarda;

- Tourism industry is on a roll in terms of tourist presence in locations like Forte dei Marmi, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Porto Cervo, Portofino, Capri, Jesolo;

- The Italian heritage is the most important in the world: Leonardo da Vinci, Raffaello Sanzio, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Garofalo, Coreggio, Tiepolo, the XX century De Chirico, Pellizza da Volpedo, Fontana, Rotella, Paladino and the contemporary art scene where the Venice Biennale is a world appointment, while among contemporary art Italy is in a leading position with artists like Francesco Vezzoli, Maurizio Cattelan, and many others;

 

- Religious tourism is also a very rich industry with the Vatican, San Giovanni Rotondo, the Loreto Sanctuary , San Francesco d’Assisi and many others;

 

- The motor industry has some excellences which speak for themselves: Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Pagani, Ducati, Moto Guzzi, MV Agusta bikes and Agusta helicopters;

 

- The nautical industry has the best shipyards: Benetti, Perini Navi, Riva, Baglietto, Cantieri di Pisa, Mochi, Crn Ancona, and many others;

 

- Design: Giugiaro and Pininfarina;

 

- Then the Theater and the Opera: Teatro alla Scala, Arena di Verona, Torre del Lago, La Fenice di Venezia, il Nuovo di Milano, Teatro Verdi di Firenze; to mention some names in the music field: Verdi, Puccini, Bellini, Rossini, Vivaldi, and many others are still bringing the Italian language around the world;

 

- Sport: Ac Milan the world’s most titled club, Juventus FC, FC Internazionale, the Ferrari in Formula 1 and the Monza Gran Prix, the Giro d’Italia for Cycling;

 

- Weapons: According to the Sole 24 Ore the industry increased by 5%, major companies are: Fiocchi Ammos, Beretta, Tanfoglio, Franchi, Benelli e Fincantieri. Benelli and Beretta are Official Suppliers of U.S. Armed Forces;

 

- Fashion Industry: Armani, Valentino, Gucci, Versace, Prada, Cavalli, Boggi, Brioni, Kiton, Marinella, which are some of the major global player in the fashion field;

 

- Furnitures: Poltrona Frau, Chateau d’Ax, Natuzzi divani, Poliform and many luxury kitchen brands like Scavolini, Snaidero, Maistri, Varenna and many others. Then there are many other small companies that export their products all over the world; 

 

- At this rate, finishing such a list It would take forever;

- Italian families have savings that are averagely higher to those of any other European country.

 

However here the point is if in Italy there are so many strong points that support it even in moments of crisis, what’s the reason behind the international media campaign to ditch its economy so much? 

 

The reason is found in a simple manipulative technique operated by our market opponents, who focus on certain weak aspects of our economy to magnify them in order to distract the attention from our strong points. Also, Italy doesn’t possess any major global media to defend itself from any global media attack. 

 

The likelihood becomes real. This way Italy is globally known for all its scandals and not for all the things that really work here. Consequently House prices and company values drift lower. 

 

Italy is a very rich country and can be annoying to many big players.

 

If they ditch Italy these big players can buy Italy’s goods at knockdown prices while in the normal market they would worth much more.

So? 

 

Don’t believe those media that vilify Italy.

 

Come to Italy; there isn’t a better time than right now to invest in Italy. 

Luigi Foscale

Private Banking in Real Estate: It’s Italy time

 

We are experiencing a new Copernican shift.

Today in Italy Private Banking is in everyone’s range if you conceive it as Real Estate Private Banking.

Let’s see together some aspects of present day’s scenario. 

First clue: The crisis. In my latest posts we have been examining the crisis. Now a few months have passed and the crisis has become an opportunity because prices are incredibly low. Crisis means low price. Crisis also means perfect timing. Prices are low at this very moment, so you have to take advantage of them. Carpe diem.

Milan is Italy’s richest city, time on the market is passed by 2 to 6 months for a property in a prime area. Prices lowered of an average 30%, however in certain cases the demand to cash out is so high that the seller also accept reduced offers of 50% compared to the 2007 values.

For this reason, today investing in Italy and mostly in a city like Milan has become a unique and unrepeatable opportunity.

Even Florence can be an excellent area for a real estate investment. What do you think of a € 2.000 (per sq. mt.) for a nice apartment?

Before 2008 such prices would have been absolutely unthinkable….Actually, to make an offer with today’s prices would had been even offensive in some case.

If you like to know more about or if you have specific need, you can contact me at retirerichbyluigifoscale@yahoo.com . I will get back to you personally.

Second clue. The Brand. In Africa there are 1 billion people and according to Reuters this number is set to double in the next 40 years. Read this study from Reuters.

Same thing for China and India. So there are 3 billion people today and 6 billion in the following 40 years. The majority of these people dream and will dream about doing the world famous Italy’s Grand Tour to visit Rome, Florence and Venice….I call this the Tourism Brand.

The World Tourism Organization reports the following ten countries as the most visited in terms of the number of international travellers.
  

Rank	Country	UNWTO Region	International tourist arrivals (2011)[3]	International tourist arrivals (2010)[3]	Change 2010 to 2011
1	France	Europe	79.5 million	77.1 million	+3.0%
2	United States	North America	62.3 million	59.8 million	+4.2%
3	China	Asia	57.6 million	55.7 million	+3.4%
4	Spain	Europe	56.7 million	52.7 million	+7.6%
5	Italy	Europe	46.1 million	43.6 million	+5.7%

The figure shows in the past two years Italy had the highest percentage of growth in International Tourist Arrivals after Spain whose first position is due to the internal economic crisis that made its prices plummeting. Source: World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

However this favourable situation needs to be supported, structured and promoted. At this regard, I recommend you my post in which I describe my formula to restart Italy’s economy.

Third clue. Property Management.

Property Management is now a well established practice globally. Indeed in the U.S. or in other economically advanced countries you can find a great number of companies that are able to manage your property. Despite the fact Italy always had a bad reputation about business management, the situation has now changed. In fact property management has become an established practice in Italy and there are many companies and professionals in this business.

The most important clue is the fourth, that concerns those who are in charge in Italy.

The so-called big wigs they know very well Italy is not at risk under the financial point of view and the undersigned is absolutely positive at this regard because I had the chance to learn that many “big shots” are now investing in both commercial and residential properties in the major Italian cities.

Talking to some of these people and to people next to them, I had the impression that all of them are convinced Italy is not in such bad waters as they want us to believe...but the contrary.

And they are totally right because as some Wall Street broker said some time ago:” Italy is too big to bail out”.

So you may now asking yourself: ”why Italy is often compared to Greece?”

Simple: Media are arm in arm with those in the government. Nobody goes against “the system”. Indeed, if this community is so successful is because somebody thinks that reality is way different from the one media want us to buy every day .

And they do it for their own advantage: indeed media are ditching something they are buying at the same time in total silence. Do you remember my post in which I revealed the secret of the spread mechanism?

There it goes. Now it’s the time of the Real Estate market.

Italy won’t fail.

Remember these words: It’s Italy time.

There are very interesting properties in Florence, Milan as they are the place with more opportunities. Today you can buy an apartment with less than 180 grand.

I am always by your side, because I am one of you

Watch out!

Luigi Foscale, One of you
 

The Italian Government’s insider trading

Today, I read on the news the Italian 10-year bonds dropped to 4.77%, the lowest record since June 2011. So those who in the past 6 months invested in Italian bonds, made a 25% capital gain. 

In my latest post about banking (Banks Stopped Banking), I have hit hard on banks because once they received massive amounts of cash from Central Banks instead of lending out money to business companies in need of cash, they invested that money in state bonds. In my opinion such a move would have got the market completely stuck. In fact mainstream media praised the banking system claiming it was a great move to gain stability. 

By reading the news today, governments is telling us the story that banks and government officials saved our system and that they did it well by investing their money in Italian bonds. The Banks raised Italy’s risk by investing in the bear market, something that eventually would have gone up. 

The very reason why banks invested in state bonds is because they already knew the spread would have gone down. Bankers are awarded bonuses. If banks make money they make it too. So they chose to secure their bonus and they gambled on the bear market.

The 2008 crisis, which is still on, was generated by those same people who now have been called to solve it.  

These are the only people who took advantage of the crisis and mostly they took an undue advantage of us all!!!! It’s like asking a robber to protect your money. The trick is really simple and it’s made of two stages. 

First I destroy your asset’s value then I buy it for a penny, then I raise it up again and then I sell it big time. 

Let’s see it together: 

In the past few months the major Western governments attacked the Italian system and the Italian bond spread went up. In the meanwhile they made up an infamous media campaign against Italy, that literally ditched our financial situation. Then they led the banks to buy Italian bonds. 

Please consider bankers get millions in bonuses and that the incumbent Italian government is plenty of technocrats. 

After a few months they emphasised a series of positive macroeconomic figures, so that the risk about Italy and by consequence the spread both went down. This evil plan was possible thanks to the connivance of the Italian government, the banks and the mainstream media. 

What then? 

Those managers who made the banks realise outrageous profits were rewarded with stellar bonuses. 

While those business companies that desperately needed the money to survive they never obtained their deserved help and many of them unfortunately went bankrupt. 

However the game is not over. The worst is yet to come: the future. 

Small businesses will face the crisis and because of their lack of liquidity they will be pressured to sell off their stash. If you add up the out-of-control Italian revenue service, the game is even clearer. 

Indeed those who gambled they found themselves with a lot of cash and they can buy goods at very lowered prices. These people generated the crisis, these people made their money out of it while we are those who are going to pay it. 

If we were in the U.S. Stock Market, this would have been Insider trading....big time! 

Unfortunately this is Italy and the business world pays the system’s inefficiency. Business in Italy is overtaxed and can’t grow its potential at its best. 

These are the real economic barriers to Italy’s industrial development and its potential economic growth. 

Luigi Foscale

Italy is a controversial country

On one side everyone likes to be rich. On the other side nobody likes the haves.

It’s a cultural problem.

Luigi Foscale

All the truth about Italy’s House Ownership Tax

Keep yourself informed, read the stories about the Italian IMU and try to read between the lines of the news stories. What you found out? A “strange” phenomenon.

Our Government provides contradictory information about the IMU [1] and those information are changing day by day. One day the tax rate blows you away, another day they are proportionate to the revenue. One day they are based upon equity, the following day they are clearly unfair. One day they hit the first home, the other the second. The thing is nobody knows how much we will have to pay for the IMU. Isn’t strange to you? Isn’t weird Real Estate companies are preparing financial plans without knowing how much taxes they will have to pay just in a few weeks? In fact it’s not weird to me. It’s simply a very manipulative form of (dis)information management. Those who are in charge, the government, the media, they are just toing and froing to exasperate those who invest in Real Estate in Italy. This is only aimed at creating panic and distrust among the Real Estate owners. Its name is psychological terrorism. It seems somebody wants us to lose trust in the housing market. 

Why? So that somebody and only that person will be able to buy for a knockdown price. 

Ask yourself why this technical government isn’t able to write a clear and definitive bill on a trivial subject like the real estate ownership tax? 

Anyone of us could write the text of a real estate tax, you just need a bit of common sense. So why the government of the super-professors, hasn’t done it yet? Why are they so hesitating about the IMU? Why this government is so resolute on the gas excise while so unsteady on the IMU? Why are they creating such mass panic among the Italian people? Why are they releasing contradictory information? 

If you are reading these pages it’s because you want answers. 

The answer is basically one: somebody wants to buy your properties at knockdown prices. If you read the stats on what the Italians think about investing, they are all extremely favourable to the bricks. About 80% of Italians they own the property where they live. This made Italy one of the richest countries in the world, despite the giant public debt created by our government officials in the past fifty years. 

In Europe and in the rest of the world only 30% of the population owns the property where they live. The rest they are on a rent. And who owns the 70% of the properties on rent? The big real estate funds. 

The pattern is very clear: if you exercise psychological terrorism among the Italian families you force them to sell their properties at lower prices and you make huge profits out of it. 

Isn’t possible that some dark forces are working behind the scenes to create some big real estate funds which eventually will be able to buy under-priced properties? 

This practice is called Monopsony, a market similar to a monopoly except that a large buyer, not seller, controls a large proportion of the market and drives the prices down or up. Sometimes referred to as the “buyer's monopoly”. 

This is what’s going on in the Italian real estate market. So we better start playing in the same ballpark of those hiding in the control room. 

In fact the counter-strategy would be that everyone of us should buy a property and rent it out. 

Luigi Foscale 

Italy is a rich country with poor laws

Italy is unable to attract foreign investments if both the economic and the tax laws change every month. How could be possible that a government of experts is not able to solve such a major problem?

The funny aspect is government officials talk about laws before they have been even written them, but that’s fine. The problem is the huge time gap before a law comes into force and most of the times laws are written in very shady forms.

This fact leaves room for several interpretations of the legislative process.

If we want to provide steadiness to Italy as a government, we have to start from the legislative process: laws have to be simpler and to remain on for a longer time.

Unfortunately this is really difficult to happen so my suggestion is to learn to swim and find the way to float among the vortexes of the legal system.

Luigi Foscale 

Italy can’t stand political interference anymore

As a businessman, every time I learn a businessman took his own life, I get a lump in my throat. I feel an emotional state of total despair for a colleague who decided death was his only way out. Right after this, I feel my anger getting higher, because the news show goes on, by explaining the very reasons of it.

Today in Italy the leading cause of death for suicide it's the tax form's nonsense made by the Italian IRS.

Media call them suicides but the truth is these are “government-murders”. 

Government officials who are paid with six figure salaries shouldn't be allowed to slaughter their own fellow citizens. In such a sensitive time for our economy, the government that want to raise taxes is really committing a crime against its own citizens. Despite the present situation these gentlemen keep sending us absolutely ridiculous tax forms. The government isn't able to understand that it's already hard for a citizen to survive without taxes, you can figure out with a shot of snake venom in your system... 

In my opinion public officials are mentally incompetent to stand in our shoes of businessmen, nor to see from another's point of view, or to feel what another feels, they are completely careless and irresponsible people so they are simply guilty criminals. 

We are talking about people who in the name of their badge and the office they represent they feel authorized to behave the way they like, without even thinking that anytime they take a decision they are sealing the fate of another human being. 

This kind of behaviour held by our public officials reminds me of the government that ruled Germany back in the 30s….

If you are reading this post and you are thinking the Italian government is out of control, it means that time has come to say “enough is enough” we have to rise against the system! 

And to those politicians who are reading this post I would like them to know that it’s time for this government to go home and to call for Elections. 

With new elections we will have a new government, chosen by the people and who will do exactly what the people want in order to restart the economy. The question we need to ask ourselves is “what initiative has the incumbent government taken to restart the economy? 

Have you ever heard of “economic stimulus”?. In the past six months have you ever heard about Employment grants or right to work”? 

Luigi Foscale 

Italy: Debt crisis or government waste?

All governments of the world, including Italy, are in crisis because of their debt situation. They talk about debt crisis, but why nobody is telling me how did we finish into this mess? 

So I wish to go into depth about how this ridiculous amount of money has been spent. If to the public debt we add what the Italian government owes to its suppliers, the picture is even worse. 

For the non-Italian readers I want you to know that a company that has among its customers the government, the company gets paid from this very special customer with at least twelve months delay and along this line. If there are sums to be cashed from the Government you can be waiting for years. Again: how did we get to this debt? 

As an Italian I hate having to admit all this money has been wasted to pay a parasite-management which approved a multitude of public projects that lie unfinished all over the country. Unfortunately Italians are used to this incredible waste. The international readers should also know the high amount of tax money cashed by Italy were eventually stolen by the local public officials. 

Here are some examples: to build a road you need one million euro and six months. The contractor starts working and during the building process, costs start to skyrocket to €4 million. Three years have passed and the project is not finished yet. At this stage everything get stuck because the local prosecutor opens an investigation that is absolutely legit, but it costs the taxpayer additional money to the amount allocated for the road that in the meanwhile keeps growing. The road yard closes down and the road is now dead, the money has been spent and the Italian road system hasn’t been developed, expanded or fixed any further. The real tragedy is in our country this example of the road yard story is the standard practice for every public project. 

Can you imagine what the Italian people’s reaction would be when the government is asking its citizens to sacrifice to fix a system that was damaged by the same people who are now asking them the money? 

Why those in charge can’t cut the wasteful spending? If we don’t cut the wasteful spending, there’s no reason to raise taxes because Italians aren’t willing to pay it. 

It’s the basics of Economics: if incomes are lower than wasteful spending anyone agrees we have to cut somewhere. Differently, Italian people will always pay more taxes but this money cashed by the government will be wasted anyhow. 

Luigi Foscale

In Italy it’s getting harder

The crisis is here to stay and unfortunately with no glimmer of light. Governments don’t help the economic system because they are introducing new taxes, resulting in less consumer spending and exasperating people. The result is obviously the fall in consumer spending.

At this point I am wondering if the incumbent government forecasted all this. If they didn’t, they were negligent, If instead they took into account the worsening situation, they did not act for the good. In both cases this government demonstrated to be not enough reliable to handle this situation.

Along this line, the banks received their bailouts with a capital injection but they invested it in TB, and that was such a nonsense move: because the banks by channelling the money to TB did not lend the money to those businesses in desperate need and that’s why the economy got stuck. Today finding a way out might be really hard but dealing with a government that throws a monkey wrench in the works it’s so much worse .

All this story led to ask myself a question: the incumbent Italian government is really interested in solving the situation for the benefit of the Italian people?

The answer is up to you!

Luigi Foscale

How to reboot Italy

As a businessman, my gut leads me to think how could we become the world’s first tourist destination. I am listing below my project objectives and some related initiatives that can reboot our economy. 

The first objective is: a foreigner who wants to travel to Italy should be able to get here easily. The first intervention step is about airports. 

We have to increase substantially the airport-structures of Milano Malpensa, Milano Linate, Milano Orio al Serio, Verona, Venezia, Parma, Bologna, Rimini, Genova, Firenze, Pisa, Trieste, Ancona, Roma Fiumicino, Roma Ciampino, Napoli, Bari, Lecce, Reggio Calabria, Isola d'Elba, Olbia, Cagliari, Alghero, Catania, Palermo, Reggio Calabria, Lampedusa, Pantelleria. In all these destinations I would triple accommodation capacity and I would create International hubs to have the highest possible number of major world airlines flying to Italy so to improve the internal/external connection system, with more airlines more frequently. If we take such a direction, when International Tourists arrive here they will find adequate structures. Every airport will have long stay parking lots, Hotel Services and shopping malls. 

The second intervention is about Alitalia, Italy’s Flag carrier. We need to increase its international routes with the major European cities and be able to have at least a daily connection between the main European cities and the airports mentioned in my first intervention step. 

Then Alitalia has to stimulate international tourists to visit Italy: we should offer a savings up to 50% off the airfare tickets to those visitors who are going to stay in Italy for more than one week. I would also create an even more stimulating saving policy for those families with more than two children. Then we have to directly connect Milan Venice, Rome and Florence with the major world capitals on a daily basis. The second Intervention step is: when an International tourist comes to Italy he/she must be able to travel easily, quickly and safely. 

Third Intervention is the Railway System. We have to implement the High Speed Railway in the following routes: 1. Torino Trieste, 2. Verona Bologna, 3. Milano Genova, 4. Ventimiglia Genova La Spezia Viareggio Pisa Grosseto Fiumicino Napoli Salerno Reggio Calabria, 5. Firenze Ancona, 6. Roma Pescara, 7. Napoli Bari, 8. Torino Ventimiglia. 9. Reggio Calabria Messina, 10. Messina Palermo Trapani Siracusa Catania, 11, Cagliari Olbia Alghero Oristano. Through this major infrastructural intervention we would be able to finally complete the whole connection system of our country. Also in each Train station the government should activate an Invitation To Bid for the Business operation of bars, restaurants, hotels (there should be at least one in every station), newsstands, shopping malls and long-stay valet parking. 

The fourth intervention step will be on freeways. 1. Pedemontana, 2. Doubling the Milano Genova, 3. Taking the Torino Savona to three lanes. 4. Milano Lecco Sondrio Livigno, 5. Como Colico, 6. Building a large bypass route in Milano 7. Gravellona Toce Ascona, 8. Bergamo Lodi, 9. Ferrara Verona, 10. Firenze Rimini, 11. Ancona Perugia, 12. Ascoli Terni, 13. Taranto Potenza, 14. Litoranea Taranto Crotone Reggio Calabria. The costs of these freeways will be supported by through a public bidding and a 99-year lease. By doing so the government substantially won’t need to invest a euro in it. 

The fifth intervention step is about providing incentives to those companies that start a road-transportation business: Taxi Cooperatives, Chauffeured Car Rental and Bus companies. We should provide these businesses with a major decrease (at least with a 50% cut) on their Vehicle Excise Duty. By doing so the consumer fares will be reduced as well. Also in this case the excise reduction, will be widely compensated by the increased utilization. 

The sixth intervention step is on public safety. Police and Carabinieri would call for an Invitation To Bid so that in every city there would be an increased force deployment 24/7 and the tourist would have a visible perception of Public Safety. This project tempt people to go out at night. The immediate benefits would be: a reduction in unemployment and an increase in consumer spending because when people go out they are invited to spend. For the government this is another initiative at no additional cost. 

The seventh intervention step is the mandatory teaching of two foreign languages in the Primary School. English as a mandatory course plus another language of your choice. This is to say that at the end of the eight years course you have to show a mother tongue proficiency level. 

The eight intervention step is the development of a major preservation plan on all historical sites. From the Etruscan tombs, to the Roman cities or renaissance buildings, the key point is all this heritage has to be recovered, restored and brought out at its best. The goal of the conservation program is to ensure that the overall condition of our art and archaeological heritage is improved and that all the sites are accessible to the public because at present it’s not. 

The ninth intervention step is to recover all the Italian artworks hidden in our museum basements. We need to build up new museums that should be able to host our entire art collection, including those pieces hidden at the Uffizi Museum, where the works on display are 1835 while those hidden in its basement and in other storage amount to 2300. No comment. The tenth intervention is developing a series of new thermal bath structures. At this regard we should create some designated professional schools with proper major degrees for those people who wish to pursue a career in the beauty industry. At the same time we should create some incentives for the restoration of the existing thermal structures and for the creation of new ones. This intervention will stimulate the economy based on Italy’s ancient cultural legacy. A tourism-related industry that should be boosted in order to increase our country appeal and that will be able to bring foreign visitors and create new jobs. 

The eleventh intervention is about Culture. Theaters must receive more incentives for each ticket sold and tax cuts for those works evoking Italian culture. Every major Italian city must have its own orchestra and their employment agreement have to be competitive with those of the other orchestras in the European Union. Every Lyric Theater must promote daily opera and/or concerts. 

The twelfth intervention is about taxation and supporting those companies who undertake new activities in the tourism industry. 

The thirteenth step is an initiative called “Bella Italia”. Every municipality will be financed by private individuals and from the central government to embellish its own landscape and its territory based on a local implementation project. 

The fourteenth intervention is an active commitment of the Tourism Secretary. All the tourist activities, from reception to transportation to cultural attractions and sport, would be listed under a Public Registry and on the Internet and they have to be easily accessible by visitors both On-line and Off-line. 

The fifteenth step is a partnership initiative with the major international Universities to open new campuses here in Italy. Student exchanges are very important at all levels. 

The sixteenth intervention is a tax cut on properties for foreigners. 

All these initiatives would be able to restart the tourism engine and the construction industry which are two central features of the Italian economy. 

Luigi Foscale

What can we do to restart Italy?

As an Italian who lived a great part of his own life abroad, I am deeply convinced Italy has a unique competitive advantage: Tourism. 

Italy’s uniqueness lies in its Art heritage: Venice, Florence, Verona, Rome, are Open air Museums. The Renaissance, the Roman Empire, and the history of Catholicism all have a tremendous historical appeal to foreign visitors. Besides, we have Tourist destinations whose attractiveness lies in its glamour, like Portofino, Cortina, Forte dei Marmi, the Amalfi Coast and Sardinia. Then we have the shopping attractions like Milano that is the world fashion capital. if Italy is the Kingdom of food and cooking, the Chiantishire is its Queen. Although we still have many more interesting places to be discovered yet. 

What I do expect from those who run this country is a real Tourism Support Policy. 

Regarding tourism the best organized country is France. Why couldn’t Italy be so well organized as France? I am deeply convinced we can and maybe do much more”. 

We just need the will to do it. 

Tomorrow I’ll tell you how. 

Luigi Foscale 

If Italy Was a Company, It Would be Bankrupt

Unfortunately a true story.

The government has no cash when it has to pay us. In fact, when it’s up to us, Italian Citizens who have to pay taxes, we get literally slaughtered by all kind of taxes: Irap, Iva, Excise duties… and compared to the number of taxes we have, we don’t get a proportionate amount of government benefits. So where do all the tax revenues go?

To understand how Italy is going, you have to consider the government as one single family.

The big Italian family cashes a good salary and this is made of taxes. The salary is high and allows you to buy a nice home with a nice kitchen, a refrigerator, a TV set and a nice living room, a number of bedrooms, bathrooms and a shower. These are investments on infrastructures. Then I would expect my fridge to be full of fruits, vegetables, meat and fish. A pantry stored with pasta, bread, corn flakes and a good stash of medications.

In our comparison scheme, these are the expenses for the health care services. Then I would expect my home to be clean and even in this case it’s an easy comparison. So why in Italy roads are in such poor conditions? Why railway trains are crumbling and the health care system is in trouble? The reason is simple: tax money is wasted. To use our example: there’s a family member who spend the family budget by going gambling at the casino while at home his family relatives are starving, sick and have no access to primary care.

The Italian Government cashes a huge amount of euros from taxes and spending its money the wrong way. The majority of the Italian people are trampled on by their government poor management.

For the non-Italian readers, I want to provide them with more precise information regarding Politics. Here I am not targeting a specific political party or another. It’s a system that goes beyond political parties. So it’s necessary that a major reform to take place in order to change the Italian system.

I personally think raising taxes at this time is a huge mistake because the Italian people are now on the edge of bankruptcy. Instead I think it would be more appropriate to decrease the cost of bureaucracy and the cost of Political privileges.

Therefore it is necessary that everyone starts his/her own Wealth Corner to provide that sense of goodness that unfortunately at today you can’t find anymore.

The sooner you start the sooner you re going to feel better.

And if you purchase a Real Estate property and rent it out you can get that private income you deserve.

Luigi Foscale