The North/South Gap from its Origins to the Present. Historical Evolution and Economic Aspects

Abstract

The analysis on the origins of the Southern gap, even taking into accountsignificantly different opinions on its causes, has allowed to explain that the«Southern question», i.e. the chronic inequality in the development of Italy's twohalves, became systematic after the Unification and during the industrial developmentof the country. Southern regions' gap was due not only to their generalinferiority compared to the rest of Italy, but also to the structural gap betweenNorthern and Southern Italy, which became wider as the country got up-to-datefrom a productive point of view, experiencing a dual mode of development.However, during a century and a half, Southern Italy's society and economy haveundergone clear transformations.These changes were not backed by an evolution of Southern Italy's situationcompared to the progress made by the Central-North of Italy. The history of unitedItaly featured a divergence between these two macro-areas, which got closerand experienced an effective reduction of their gap only during the golden age.The more recent events have brought back Southern Italy, deprived of extraordinaryinterventions as well, to its inequality gap, moving it away from theaim of convergence. Therefore, the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno has been the maintool for Southern Italy's development, especially when taking into considerationthe whole range of its activities, operating effectively during the years of the«economic miracle».With the end of the extraordinary interventions, the «Southern question»,until then tackled as an important, nationwide issue, was replaced by a fragmentedview, without strategic ideas for Southern Italy.During the last years, a new obstacle emerged in the form of a «Northernquestion», arisen from the need for a revival of economic initiative by productivecategories in Northern Italy. Such a move triggered a shift to new policies,whose outcomes could not be compared with the more productive period of theCassa and brought forcefully the Italian economic dualism to the fore again.