Wages and purchasing power, Draghi is now in a hurry to intervene

There are not only the fibrillations in the majority, especially in the Cinquestelle house, there are also the times of the economy, and of a conjunctural situation that risks twisting, to suggest to the government and to Prime Minister Mario Draghi to accelerate the measures to support wages and protect purchasing power. The premier says it several times and with extreme clarity: “The answers must be given immediately”, we cannot wait for the budget law because it would be too late: “the effect of the decrease in purchasing power would not have mitigating” and “there it would have an effect on consumption, which is the most important part of demand “. The picture has changed, even compared to just ten days ago. And if the parliamentary behavior of the Movement led by Giuseppe Conte is a sensitive issue for the stability of the government, the need to use the levers of economic policy to react to the increasing difficulties is the only possible answer. “Inflation erodes the purchasing power of families. We must intervene to support employment and tackle inequalities that worsen in times of high inflation. Defend pensions and wages. Hence the idea of ​​this morning meeting with the unions” , explains Draghi, also indicating the path he intends to follow: “Structural interventions are needed. Ad hoc interventions are needed when it is an episodic phenomenon, but when it begins to last, structural interventions are needed to protect the purchasing power of families. They are urgent and structural. Many will be done in budget law but others will be done before “. The premier, who as president of the ECB has always supported the same line, also dwells on the risk by definition connected to the measures that stimulate an increase in wages. “What is important is to avoid triggering a spiral of price-wage increases. This is what the ECB looks at and all the central banks look at. But in our case the cost of labor is very low, very low compared to other European countries. “, he highlights, ensuring that the measures being considered” are all compatible “with anti-inflationary policies. The other stake is the one set by the budget, because we do not want to carry out deficit-financed interventions. The path is narrow. “Structural measures are needed to increase net wages, we need to reduce the tax burden starting from the lowest incomes, we want to intervene decisively within public finance spaces”. And time is running out, the measures are needed immediately and not at the end of the year. This is why Draghi is surgical when he talks about the role and mandate of his government: “With ultimatums he does not work, he loses his sense of existing. If he can work he continues, if he cannot work he does not continue”. The message is clear, there is no time to bargain on flag measures as if there is no war on, as if there is no inflation at 8% and as if the risk of a new recession is not one. certainty in the event of a halt to Russian gas supplies. We need the government, we need economic policy and we need a majority capable of supporting it. (By Fabio Insenga)