ITALIAN CAUSES
In the 21st century Italy had experience two opposite economic scenarios: growth and recession. In the big recession, Italy was one of the few countries that not contract that fast, it stayed more stable. Its recession began later than the other countries in the Eurozone. It began in the third trimester of 2008 according to the articles and newspapers.
At the beginning of the 2000, Italy had a nominal GDP of USD (US Dollar) of 1.145.109. And in 2009 the nominal GDP of USD was 2.190.700. The Italian economy had a growth of 91.3% during the decade before the big recession. According to the World Bank, the GPD grew from 1.3% to 4.9% between 2007 and 2009.
The GDP per capita was 20.177 USD. At the end of the decade, Italy reached the 37.130 USD. Its GDP per capita had a growth of 143% in the first decade of the 21st century. In consonance to the World Bank, it decreased a 3.5% from 2007 to 2009. It implied the little growth in that period of a barely 0.3% annual average in that period.
​The evident reduction in the external income from the USA and the rest of Europe paralyzed the domestic economies and in the Mediterranean stopped the tourism, one of its main activities. That caused less sells, less production, less employment, salaries and utilities. In consequence, the tax collection dropped and so as to increase the fiscal expenditure to avoid a bigger recession, deficit and debt increased to unforeseeable levels. The unemployment rate increased from 6.2% to 8.4%.
Italy’s GDP before and after Lehman Brothers: https://voxeu.org/article/italy-and-after-lehman-brothers