Insolvent Solution

Three weeks ago, beset by the threats of strikes among Italy's teachers and civil servants, Premier Antonio Segni passed out an average raise of 12% to every civil servant-an annual total of $425 million. Compared to Italy's gross national product, this generous gesture was equivalent to raising the cost of government in the U.S. by $7 billion at one stroke. Everybody agrees that 1) Italian civil servants are underpaid, 2) Italy's 1,000,000-man bureaucracy is inefficient, cumbersome. Segni, before raising the pay, had had parliamentary permission to change the system, but he let the power lapse without making any real reform.

Only one member of Segni's administration. Treasury Minister Silvio Gava, was spoilsport enough to ask where the money was to come from. When he got no satisfactory answer to his question, Gava threatened to resign, and was only talked out of it with some difficulty.

Last week another member of the Segni Cabinet. Finance Minister Giulio Andreotti, assured the voters that there would be no new taxes. Faced with the impossible prospect of paying for something with nothing. Treasurer Gava went to Premier Segni again. He was quitting, and this time he really meant it.

As one step towards a healthier Italian economy, the Chamber of Deputies approved a bill (already passed by the Senate) allowing foreign businessmen to invest freely in "productive" enterprises in Italy, and to get that money out.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.