The Nobel Prize for Economics, this year, on December 10, will be awarded to three illustrious economists, Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson, of MIT in Boston, and James A. Robinson, of the University of Chicago, for their ” studies on how institutions are formed and impact the prosperity” of nations. For over twenty years these enlightened scholars have carried out research aimed at explaining to the world that democracy is the basis of all formulas for economic growth. Since 1969, the year of the establishment of the specific recognition in economics, the Swedish bank has awarded the important certificate to experts in economic theories, both micro and macro, who have studied and combined the different variables and factors of production by looking at the dynamics of the markets.
The question of the institutional structure has always remained in the background. The significant passage this year is that scientific elaboration brings back in the third millennium and in an economic and social projection that concept of the power of the people affirmed in the 6th century BC, as an antidote created by the ancient Greeks to move away from the inefficiency of the government of the few to the industriousness and productivity of participatory models, the first form of modern representation systems. The event cannot leave anyone indifferent. Especially in our area. Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, the sample city, studied by the three Nobel Prize winners, could be Naples, Bari, Palermo, Reggio Calabria. The community of this city, on the border with the United States, unlike the comparative city of Nogales, Arizona, in the United States, has lower standards of care, health and education and higher crime rates.
The per capita income of the US side is three times higher than that of the Mexican territory. In Italy, the issue of inequalities between the two parts of the country, in terms of essential rights and basic services, is widely explored, and the income of the northern regions, according to the latest ISTAT data, is double that of the regions of the South, with average values ranging from 40,900 euros in the north to 21,700 in the south. Comparing the levels of inclusiveness of the two areas of Nogales, one Mexican and the other American, the analysis leads to the conclusion that participatory government systems bring well-being and that the active participation of citizens improves institutional performance. Starting from the acquired data that the institutional structure in Mexico is less inclusive than that of the United States, which is largely competitive, the analysis passes through elaborations of contextual situations taken into consideration as applied demonstrations of the developed theory.
If we applied the formula to Italy we would see that, although we are moving in a single country, therefore theoretically with the same rules, the level of democracy is different. Just look at the data on abstentionism. Starting from the 1979 elections, turnout in parliamentary elections in Italy has undergone a progressive and almost continuous decline, which took it from 93.4% in 1976 to 63.8% in 2022. 17 million voters chose to do not vote because they do not recognize themselves in any political offer and do not believe in the intentions and promises made during the electoral campaign, thus expressing a sense of distrust in the institutions. Cross-sectioning the figures shows that the lowest turnout figure is recorded in the islands, then gradually in the South and finally in the North. Roughly speaking, we can risk an abstention of 60% in Sicily and Sardinia, 51-52% in the southern regions and 37-38% in the North.
Therefore, given the same starting conditions, identical regulatory framework, there is an anthropological fact that influences the structure of the institutions. The scholars awarded the prestigious prize compare “extractive” institutions and “inclusive” institutions, attributing to the former a depressive character and, therefore, an effect of hindering growth. While inclusive institutions are a stimulus to both social and economic development, as the involvement of citizens in choices animates the places of aggregation and discussion and the comparisons that are promoted in them help to bring a defined contribution of ideas and to stimulate an aware citizenship , which cannot be ignored by those who are running to represent the country. The three economists delve into the purposes of extractive and inclusive institutions, indicating them, respectively, in the exploitation of power for the former, and in the promotion of prosperity for the latter.
But they do not consider the causes of these diversified structures and that the profile of an institutional framework can be determined from below, as in our case. The indifference of us Southerners to the instruments of democracy, such as electoral and regulatory laws, is the primary cause of the degradation of our institutions, which take on typically extractive characteristics and perform poorly and poorly. I recently joined the Committee for the modification of the electoral law, for a proportional and preferential system, in a position to return constitutional power to the people. Participation was very low. Stimulating the interest of those approximately 60 thousand heroes who signed the referendum questions was a feat. Unfortunately, the concepts of democracy and participation remain very distant. We cannot see the close correlation between the exercise of the people’s right to sovereignty and the return in terms of satisfaction of general interests.
When we celebrate an electoral campaign, we mostly improvise consensus in favor, in the best of cases, of the one who appears to be the winning candidate, to the point of even bartering one’s right for small recognitions or big promises. The mechanism summarized in this way leaves only those accustomed to disorganized or poorly idealized fans on the field and increases the audience of defeatists and disheartened. This means that it will be increasingly like this. And that the small glimmers of light that the South is starting to glimpse, with thousandths of signs of improvement, will not be transformed into a lasting process of growth because they are destined to die out when the “exploitation” is over.
The Nobel wanted by the strange character Alfred at the end of the 19th century to reward studies and research aimed at creating well-being and promoting peace in the world, this time from Stockholm arrives in Naples and its surroundings, passing through the United States. This award is for me yet another bell that rings for us, for the indolent disappointed people and for the rebellious people of need. A discovery that can be called revolutionary, in our latitudes. Democracy makes you eat!
