Through taxation modern states have funded the two basic functions which have characterised the history of democracies in the 20th century: the provision of services and income redistribution through the principal of progressivity. The current anti-tax extremism propagated by the right worldwide has a political rather than an economic objective: to reduce fiscal revenue and as a result also public services. In this way citizens disaffection for the state increases and the sense of collective responsibility decreases. Therefore, the funding of the welfare state cannot be discussed without bringing the matter of the democratic legitimacy of taxation to the forefront of the political debate. In fact, the reformatory forces have often used the same petty terms of the conservatives. Distinctions between the right and left have disappeared with one single slogan on the lips of all politicians: less taxes at all costs. However, it is necessary to restore the centrality of the state’s role, crucial in a market economy, in the use of taxation as one of the tools for the funding of public services and functions, applying notions of distributive equity and socio-economic justice.only subscribers can see the full article

Given shortcomings in present low income support measures, possible reforms are presented. The underlying consideration is to implement a joint reform of Irpef and family benefits by introducing tax cuts and benefits for minors regardless of income, and additional measures such as income transfer (negative taxation) in the case of fiscal incapacity; more progressivity of Irpef to obtain the necessary resources from high income earners to finance allowances and tax deductions. The redistributive effects of this reform are highlighted in favour of low and medium income families and the possibility to support young people by funding incentives to enable their entry to the labour market.only subscribers can see the full article

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

Equality and efficiency are the reasons why public provision and production of social services need to be supported. This does not mean doing away with all monetary benefits: a minimum income, for example, is urgently needed for our country. However, the idea that the public provision and production of social services should be scaled down is highly debatable yet supported by many left-wingers.only subscribers can see the full article

The union plays a fundamental role to safeguard workers’ standard of living. To aid their mission the distributive action of the public sector and the assessment of efficacy of various redistribution tools are crucially important. In this paper, Beniamino Lapadula highlights the necessity of a new in-come policy that clearly distinguishes between the positions of the right and the left, especially regarding the hypothesis for a reduction in taxation which has found keen supporters from the left. The union, however, believes active policies and the high quality of public services represent the only tools to guarantee the extension of citizenship rights and the reinforcement of social cohesion. An analysis is given of the present economic situation characterised by pronounced inequalities in the labour market. The proposals and reforms advanced and achieved in recent years on taxation and redistribution are presented, highlighting the necessity to improve measures and interventions developed in a fragmentary way in the previous legislature, for which two reform hypotheses have been put forward (cfr. the proposal of C. De Vincenti and of P. Bosi, M. Baldini and M. Matteuzzi, infra).only subscribers can see the full article