The main objective of this paper is to provide arguments needed to support the thesis that the most serious obstacle to the construction of a competitive and fair economy in Italy is represented by the production structure, characterised by the prevalence of small or micro companies and by a manufacturing specialisation centred mostly on traditional production. This structure acts as a hindrance to the utilisation of human capital encouraging growth strategies which are not focused on the introduction of innovations, thus proving to be fragile. The removal of this obstacle requires different policy interventions other than tax cuts, reduction in social spending and the insistence on the flexibilisation of the labour market.only subscribers can see the full article