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Where are you from Davidw? As an Italian I feel insulted by such claims. I have worked with American, British and German people and I have often found that Ital

Where are you from Davidw? As an Italian I feel insulted by such claims. I have worked with American, British and German people and I have often found that Italian people are better prepared, more humble, more hard-working and less arrogant than their foreign counterparts. While the Google tax maybe illegal it's extremely unfair that big companies have legal means to avoid the standard tax regulations that are in place in a given county. This is simply unfair competition as much as China can compete unfairly in some sectors and industries. And this has nothing to do with innovation in fact this is the kind of things that could even hinder innovation in Italy. How can an Italian company compete on the same grounds with another one if the spread on taxes is more than 35%?

davidw 13y ago
I'm from Oregon. > As an Italian I feel insulted by such claims. Which claims? That Italy has a lot to offer that other countries don't? Or that the politicians are by and large incompetent? Or that it's a terrible place to do business? http://doingbusiness.org/rankings http://doingbusiness.org/rankings - look at where Italy is there. > I have worked with American, British and German people and I have often found that Italian people I have worked with lots of people too, and found that Italians are often quite skilled programmers with good communication skills. Although English is not always a strong spot, the underlying ability to easily communicate and deal with other people is usually quite strong. Italians don't take home a lot of money compared to other countries, so with lower taxes, their wages could easily be quickly bid up by foreign companies taking advantage of highly skilled labor at competitive prices. > While the Google tax maybe illegal it's extremely unfair that big companies have legal means to avoid the standard tax regulations that are in place in a given county As Renzi said, this is something to be dealt with at a European/International level. Not with some stupid, ineffective law that merely makes Italy look bad, and does next to nothing to Google, merely passing on extra costs to Italian companies. > This is simply unfair competition as much as China can compete unfairly in some sectors and industries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage There are probably some things where Chinese competition is genuinely 'unfair', but that's a pretty huge topic, and a lot of their advantage has been low labor costs. So, unfair in the same sense that Italy has an unfair advantage over Finland in producing quality wine... > How can an Italian company compete on the same grounds with another one if the spread on taxes is more than 35%? Answer: they can't. That's part of the reason the economy has stagnated over the past 20 years. But that's not China's fault, nor Google's fault. The good news is that it is a solvable problem, and indeed, the basic recipe is pretty well known at this point. People just have to get their courage up and do it. http://www.corriere.it/editoriali/14_febbraio_21/purche-si-dica-tutta-verita-2fdac98a-9ac2-11e3-8ea8-da6384aa5c66.shtml http://www.corriere.it/editoriali/14_febbraio_21/purche-si-d... http://www.amazon.com/Good-Italy-Bad-Conquer-Demons/dp/0300186304?tag=dedasys-20 http://www.amazon.com/Good-Italy-Bad-Conquer-Demons/dp/03001...
- register 13y ago
  if you are from Oregon what makes you so competent about Italian problems? The fact that you haven taken a look at a bunch of articles posted on the internet? Or rather do you have some Italian relatives or have you attempted to start a business in Italy? Because a positive answer to this last question is the only one I would accept. I am offended because I feel that there is a strong judgmental sentiment towards Italy by people and media especially in the UK ( but also in the US) that is alimented only by superficiality.
  - davidw 13y ago
    > some Italian relatives Yes - my wife, and children, although the children have dual Italian-US citizenship. We live in Padova. > or have you attempted to start a business in Italy? Are you crazy? Do you have any idea how much that costs? In Oregon, it costs $100 to create an LLC, the equivalent of an Srl, and you can do everything online. It is easier these days to start a company in Italy, thanks, in some small part, to my efforts: http://www.governo.it/Notizie/Presidenza/dettaglio.asp?d=69038 http://www.governo.it/Notizie/Presidenza/dettaglio.asp?d=690... But it's still very difficult compared to most places in the US, UK or even many other European countries. I agree with you that there are a lot of stereotypes, but Italy having awful bureaucracy and a bad judicial system is pretty much a fact. Like I said though, the positive thing in all this is that the problems are all things that can be fixed if more people apply themselves rather than simply complaining.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]

davidw 13y ago

I'm from Oregon. > As an Italian I feel insulted by such claims. Which claims? That Italy has a lot to offer that other countries don't? Or that the politicians are by and large incompetent? Or that it's a terrible place to do business? http://doingbusiness.org/rankings http://doingbusiness.org/rankings - look at where Italy is there. > I have worked with American, British and German people and I have often found that Italian people I have worked with lots of people too, and found that Italians are often quite skilled programmers with good communication skills. Although English is not always a strong spot, the underlying ability to easily communicate and deal with other people is usually quite strong. Italians don't take home a lot of money compared to other countries, so with lower taxes, their wages could easily be quickly bid up by foreign companies taking advantage of highly skilled labor at competitive prices. > While the Google tax maybe illegal it's extremely unfair that big companies have legal means to avoid the standard tax regulations that are in place in a given county As Renzi said, this is something to be dealt with at a European/International level. Not with some stupid, ineffective law that merely makes Italy look bad, and does next to nothing to Google, merely passing on extra costs to Italian companies. > This is simply unfair competition as much as China can compete unfairly in some sectors and industries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage There are probably some things where Chinese competition is genuinely 'unfair', but that's a pretty huge topic, and a lot of their advantage has been low labor costs. So, unfair in the same sense that Italy has an unfair advantage over Finland in producing quality wine... > How can an Italian company compete on the same grounds with another one if the spread on taxes is more than 35%? Answer: they can't. That's part of the reason the economy has stagnated over the past 20 years. But that's not China's fault, nor Google's fault. The good news is that it is a solvable problem, and indeed, the basic recipe is pretty well known at this point. People just have to get their courage up and do it. http://www.corriere.it/editoriali/14_febbraio_21/purche-si-dica-tutta-verita-2fdac98a-9ac2-11e3-8ea8-da6384aa5c66.shtml http://www.corriere.it/editoriali/14_febbraio_21/purche-si-d... http://www.amazon.com/Good-Italy-Bad-Conquer-Demons/dp/0300186304?tag=dedasys-20 http://www.amazon.com/Good-Italy-Bad-Conquer-Demons/dp/03001...

register 13y ago
if you are from Oregon what makes you so competent about Italian problems? The fact that you haven taken a look at a bunch of articles posted on the internet? Or rather do you have some Italian relatives or have you attempted to start a business in Italy? Because a positive answer to this last question is the only one I would accept. I am offended because I feel that there is a strong judgmental sentiment towards Italy by people and media especially in the UK ( but also in the US) that is alimented only by superficiality.
- davidw 13y ago
  > some Italian relatives Yes - my wife, and children, although the children have dual Italian-US citizenship. We live in Padova. > or have you attempted to start a business in Italy? Are you crazy? Do you have any idea how much that costs? In Oregon, it costs $100 to create an LLC, the equivalent of an Srl, and you can do everything online. It is easier these days to start a company in Italy, thanks, in some small part, to my efforts: http://www.governo.it/Notizie/Presidenza/dettaglio.asp?d=69038 http://www.governo.it/Notizie/Presidenza/dettaglio.asp?d=690... But it's still very difficult compared to most places in the US, UK or even many other European countries. I agree with you that there are a lot of stereotypes, but Italy having awful bureaucracy and a bad judicial system is pretty much a fact. Like I said though, the positive thing in all this is that the problems are all things that can be fixed if more people apply themselves rather than simply complaining.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]