Italy urgently needs pension reform

Italy's new Prime Minister Mario Monti announced the cornerstones of his drastic austerity programme following a meeting of Eurozone ministers in Brussels on Wednesday. Part of the programme pertains to the controversial pension system, but it is only meaningful when young people have the prospect of getting a job, the liberal daily La Stampa notes: "Since 1996 this reform has been talked about. Again and again the problem was postponed for the next legislative period and passed on to future generations. But the time for short-sighted election strategies is over. To prevent the system from collapsing the gap between expenditure and revenues must first be addressed. ... Only a dishonest accountant would claim that the problem can be solved if the lacking expenditure is balancing out by raising the retirement age. The cut in costs this would achieve only makes sense if new workers, above all young ones, gain access to the job market. Otherwise the measures will fail to have the intended impact in the long term."

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