EU: Messori, government focuses on growth for ok accounts

” The government’s bet is clear: don’t limit yourself, don’t constrain public spending too much in the bet to have very significant growth rates, not only with the rebound of 2021 but also in perspective ”. This was stated by the economist Marcello Messori at Adnkronos, commenting on the assessments of the EU on the draft budgetary plans of the member states. The budget law, according to Messori, ” is part of this strategy: it foresees a still substantial deficit, foresees a gradual reduction in future years, and therefore bets on the fact that the public budget adjustment will mainly take place through increases in the denominator rather than through containment of expenditure, that is, of the numerator ”. ” The European Commission, after all, has a light touch because it says: okay, we understand the logic, we approve the de facto strategy, but we ask for very rigorous attention to the composition of this expenditure ”, explains Messori. During the pandemic it was not possible to control spending because ” we were in a great emergency. But from now on it is evident that the preference goes to investments or that expenditure in training and education that should allow to make technological innovations, really support competition rather than interventions such as tax cuts ”. However, Messori adds, ” it seems to me that the Commission has not made it a decisive point for the approval of the budget bill. I believe that this request is not compelling and therefore I doubt that we can go back with respect to this decision ”. ” If with the magic wand one could decide how to allocate public spending, my answer – Messori explains – would be: with direct or indirect, innovative investments, education and training of the workforce, welfare reform to protect low incomes more and allow this passage, which will be very complicated for all countries, of productive reorganization. In this context it seems to me that the tax cut comes much later. And if the tax cut is seen as a tool in the redesign of welfare, then it can be fine. But only in this key in my opinion ”, he concludes.