Wednesday, January 14, 2015

“Investments, mafias cost 16 billion” – Il Sole 24 Ore

"Investments, mafias cost 16 billion" – Il Sole 24 Ore

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This article was published on 15 January 2015 to 06:38 hours.

The Impact on growth

“A higher density criminal raises the cost

credit for companies

and the request for guarantees

by banks’

Rome

Without the presence of organized crime, foreign investment in Italy between 2006 and 2012 would have been higher by 15 percent or 16 billion Euros. To quantify this conspicuous wealth destruction is the Governor of the Bank of Italy. Ignazio Visco was in fact heard yesterday by the anti-Mafia commission on the issue of enforcement and crime prevention.

Visco, on the sidelines of the hearing that paid tribute to the experience of Giorgio Napolitano (“a great president” is his comment), revealed yesterday the perverse effects on the functioning of the criminal economy the economic system: “The most significant impact of the crime – said the head of Palazzo Koch – is not so much in the value of what is produced through criminal activity, but, with effects much longer period, in value than product Because of the distortions caused by the spread of crime. “

So the governor recalled some studies in the area, for example, a study conducted in the Bank of Italy has estimated that the settlement of organized crime in Puglia and Basilicata in the early seventies generated in the two regions in the space of thirty years a loss of GDP of about 16 percent compared to a counterfactual scenario. With the same method, also recalled the governor was made a comparison between what happened in Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Irpinia after the earthquakes of 1976 and 1980 following an influx of public funds: in Friuli-Venezia Giulia where crime organized there was no growth in GDP per capita was higher by about 20 points compared to the counterfactual scenario; instead in Irpinia where organized crime was deeply rooted, the growth of per capita GDP was less than 12 points compared to the counterfactual scenario. Not enough. “A higher density criminal drives up the cost of borrowing for businesses and induces a greater demand for collateral by banks, with potential negative effects on investment and growth,” noted Visco. He added that even in the insurance market the presence of crime imposes a direct cost on businesses and citizens: “The data show that in 2013 Ivass higher premiums were paid in Campania, Puglia and Calabria.”

After clarifying that there are unique definitions and estimates of what the criminal economy and its direct impact on the economy, the Governor also mentioned that in September 2014, Istat has estimated the impact of trade in drugs, prostitution and smuggling in a rate in 2011 to 0.9 percent of GDP; Furthermore, Transcrime encrypted in a rate of 1% of the Italian GDP the proceeds of the drug trade, the arms trade, than in tobacco, counterfeit and play. Finally, Visco said that some analyzes, based on the amount of money in circulation, however, suggest that the economy is illegal in Italy in the years 2005-2008 could weigh more than 10 percent of GDP.

Governor also stressed that the Bank of Italy is actively engaged in fighting lawlessness, with ever more intense collaboration between FIU and the judiciary, and with initiatives such as the Memorandum of Understanding between the FIU and National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC) for combating money laundering of proceeds of corruption. He explained that at the FIU was enhanced activity of analysis of financial flows between Italy and the rest of the world that allows, among other things, to identify positions potentially “abnormal”: “The results show that ceteris paribus , flows in favor of the so-called “tax havens” are about 36 percent higher than those to other foreign countries. ” To help create a more oriented to legality, concluded Visco, are also useful specific incentives “could become as the rating of legality.”

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FIGURES

+ 15%

Potential foreign investment

Those estimated in 2006-2012 without organized crime

10 %

The weight of the illegal economy

The estimate of GDP based on the amount of money in circulation



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