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Comment by SilverSlash | Hacker News Reader

Italy -> advanced economy -> lol

Please don't comment unsubstantively. We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14071160 and marked it off-topic.

> Italy -> advanced economy -> lol

Besides the fact that you phrased that like a 10-year-old, are you serious? Italy is the 3rd largest economy in the EU.

> Italy is the 3rd largest economy in the EU.

"advanced" and "largest" are related but not synonymous

I don't want to defend the parents barb any further, so I'll just say this : there's a reason so many highly educated Italians - particular from the south - emigrate. The country suffers from brain drain on an epic scale because the local economy doesn't offer sufficient opportunities.

> because the local economy doesn't offer sufficient opportunities.

no, it's because the culture is so 50 years behind the rest of the world that I don;t want to sit in a bar were people are still discussing about gay rights or gay marriage or abortion or adapting to an ever changing world or the "euro's faults", like there's really something to argue about it.

I don;t want to live in a country of trained monkeys trying to set the clock 100 years back and talking about how better fascism was.

That's why I left.

> no, it's because the culture is so 50 years behind the rest of the world

Aside from it being your personal experience, are you saying cultural fit is the primary reason for emigration?

Yes, it is. Many will tell you that it is because there's more work outside Italy, but in reality works ethic is a direct consequence of the cultural heritage, not of the country laws or the abundance of job posts.

I don't see myself as a "typical Italian" anymore, quite the opposite, I find it rather offensive. The common principles that had brought the citizen of this country together after the fascism and the war and made us opponents and not enemies, have collapsed.

If my job and my taxes (quite a lot higher than the average) are paying for the education or the health care of those people that want to ban vaccines or that protect castes and guild of all kinds, when not directly working for the mob, I'm outa here.

> Many will tell you that it is because there's more work outside Italy, but in reality works ethic is a direct consequence of the cultural heritage, not of the country laws or the abundance of job posts.

Interesting. I know quite a few Italian expats (non-software, mostly phds in sciences, mechanical engineers and the like), and they say there's literally nothing in their home regions (Sicily, Puglia) - but that otherwise they'd like to live there despite social issues.

4th largest economy.

The UK (2nd largest) leaves in 2019.

So, wouldn't we become 2nd, rather than 4th?

1st: Germany

2nd: UK

3rd: France

4th: Italy

The UK and France switch a lot, Italy is almost certain to become the 3rd largest in 2019 when the UK leaves.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_European_Union#...

Interesting...

The debt to GDP ratio of Italy stands at 132 percent and its unemployment rate exceeds 7.5 percent.

I really don't get economics.

Largest economy is GDP per capita. Public debt is not necessarily related to how the actual economy is doing at the moment. If gov takes a huge loan and uses it to propel business, economy does good. Although there's a debt to pay back far in the future. Which hopefully will be easier to pay thanks to inflation.

7.5 unemployment is OK by europeans terms. Anything bellow 10% is business as usual.

> Largest economy is GDP per capita

Largest economy is not "GDP per capita", it is nominal GDP. Italy is #12 by GDP per capita measurement.

"I really don't get economics."

Obviously.

They are talking about only one indicator: GDP. What you don't get?

Ah, got it.

Thanks, thought we were 3rd.

Italy is 3rd by GDP in the Euro area but not in the European Union.

You are probably thinking of the eurozone.

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