The welfare legislation played an important role in Italian political and economical life. The unforeseen consequences of the generous welfare legislation of the ’70 are the main reason of our huge national debt; attempts to reform met resistance, and in the process, governments fell, alliances were formed and broken. I will focus mainly on the last 17 years, i.e. from the first Berlusconi government, but a few words need to be spent in order to understand the reason for his victory and the dramatic change it represented in the political scene.

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Sharing thoughts with Franco Debenedetti

Born in 1933 in Turin, Franco Debenedetti has a degree in electrical engineering. He started working in the metal tubing company founded by his father, and later became manager at Fiat and Olivetti before entering politics. First elected a senator in 1994 with the liberal Alleanza Democratica, he was re-elected with the progressive Olive Tree coalition in 1996 and again in May 2001; in the Senate he sits in the group of the largest opposition party, the Democratic Left.

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