Italy is a beautiful country, which attracts 58.3 million tourists a year. In 2018, tourists in Italy spent nearly $46.5 billion. Yet, Italy is having major financial troubles right now. For the second quarter in a row the Italian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined for a second straight quarter. The past two quarters Italy’s economy has shrunk by a total of 0.2%. This is the first time Italy’s economy contracted since 2014. However, over the past decade Italy has had a total of three recessions, including this current one. Illegal crimes organizations in Italy are still thriving despite the economic struggles of the country. But that could be slowed down by a rampant effort in Europe to destroy organized crime organizations in the continent. The deconstruction of the mafia may be a bad thing for the economy though. Not only does the mafia bring money in to the country through drugs, but they have also invested in their country as well as many businesses. Without the mafia would the economy in Italy completely shut down?
There are three major organized crime families that police focus on; the 'Ndrangheta, the Camorra and, the Sicilian mafia. These families are known for their illegal activity dealing drugs, guns, and stoking fear in politicians by way of violence. When it comes to illegal activity, the Ndrangheta family is the best. They distribute 70% of the cocaine in Europe, and distribute guns throughout the world. It is believed that the income of the Ndrangheta family alone brings in somewhere from $50 billion to $100 billion a year. Money they make has to be laundered. Through the process of laundering their cash the mafia has invested in their country in agriculture, the food-industry, and construction. “Mafia syndicates in Italy have an estimated annual turnover of €150bn, according to a report by the anti-Mafia parliamentary committee in 2017. That is €40bn more than Italy’s biggest holding company Exor, which includes Fiat, Chrysler, and Ferrari” (ft.com). The food industry has become a big source of income for the mafia. They have invested in farming, livestock, grocery stores, and even restaurants. An estimated 15% of mafia income is believed to come from the food industry alone. A legitimately legal source of income.
Settimio Mineo, center, a mob chief in Sicily, was arrested on Tuesday.CreditCreditIgor Petyx/ANSA, via Associated Press
Europol, the European Union's law enforcement agency declared on April 16, 2019, that organized crime is the top threat to security. Recently European countries have been cracking down on mafia activity. In December 2018, Italian officials detained the recently elected leader of the mafia, Settimio Mineo. In that arrest alone 46 members of the Sicilian Mafia were arrested. A week after that arrest a total of 90 other Mafia members were arrested in a number of different European countries. Over the past couple months there have been hundreds of Mafia members busted in Europe. Now that Europol has keyed in on organized crime, it most likely will lead to increased arrests. But is this really what Italy needs right now?
Yes, the Mafia participates in a lot of illegal activity. They assassinate people, threaten politicians, sell drugs and guns, and the list goes on. With that being said Italy is in a recession. Would taking down the Mafia be smart? A conflict theorist would say no. Although some people suffer because of the illegal activity of the Mafia, the economic benefits of the Mafia are undeniably valuable to the Italian economy. Italy is currently in their third recession in a decade, and the future is not looking promising according to projections of next quarters GDP. Taking down the Mafia should be a goal, but right now does not seem like the right time to focus on that effort.
Citations
Chotiner, Isaac. "The Mafia Is More Powerful Than It’s Ever Been." Slate.com, 16 June 2018, slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/ndrangheta-mafia-more-powerful-and-scarier-than-its-ever-been.html.
"Organized Crime is Top Threat to European Security, Europol Says." theglobepost.com, 16 Apr. 2019, theglobepost.com/2019/04/16/europe-security-organized-crime/.
Povoledo, Elisabetta. "Italy and 3 Other Nations Arrest Members of Mafia." nytimes.com, 4 Dec. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/12/04/world/europe/sicily-mafia-arrests.
Roberts, Hannah. "How the mafia got to our food." ft.com, 7 Nov. 2018, www.ft.com/content/73de228c-e098-11e8-8e70-5e22a430c1ad.
Trading Economics. Italy GDP Growth Rate. tradingeconomics.com/italy/gdp-growth.
This concept is super interesting and deals a lot with the ethics of how much the mafia harms the community versus how much it helps it. I think it would be interesting to look at all of the ways the mafia harms to community and dig into who is affected and by how much, then compare it to the benefits that the mafia brings in and see who is affected by that and by how much to qualitatively compare the two. I'd be interested to see how the money the mafia brings in directly affects Italian citizens by looking not only where the money is going, as you laid out within the post a lot being funneled into the food industry, but also where the money goes from there and how dependent is the economy on this revenue and investment compared to other sources. Then another factor is how the mafia is affecting people outside of Italy through the process of drug trafficking as well as the use of those drugs outside of Italy, if there is any use I'm not very well versed on the topic, and if it would be ethical to let this continue to happen in order to support Italy's economy.
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