By Salvatore Cernuzio
ROME, JAN. 19, 2012 (Zenit.org).- The decline in births, from the 70s to our days, is what has led us to the present situation of economic crisis.
This was the affirmation made at a symposium on the family held at the Italian Parliament, which included a presentation from Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, president of IOR, the Italian initials for the Istituto per le Opere di Religione, often referred to as the Vatican’s Bank.
«If the six of us speakers here today were the government, we would have resolved the economic problem immediately, because we would know where to point: the family,» Tedeschi exclaimed.
Then, he outlined what he termed the five No’s, illustrating the negative effects that come about when «births are interrupted and the family and children are ignored in the Western world.»
No Growth of the Economy: «In the last 30 years children were not born, and the number of inhabitants that we had in Italy in 1980 has remained unchanged; hence how can the GDP grow when it grows only when there is more consumption?»
No Saving: «One of the phenomena of our days is that the banks have no liquidity, the reason is that there has been no saving for more than 25 years.
«In 1975-’80 the rate of savings accumulation of Italian families was 27%; today it is 4.5%! Of 100 lire earned, 27 were put in the bank, they entered the cycle of investments and brokerage. Today all that is earned is consumed, there are no resources for financial markets.»
No Marriages: «How is it that today there is no possibility of getting married before 32 years of age? Because a young couple cannot afford to purchase a house, due to the fact that, even if they are professionals, they earn half of what was earned 30 years ago, due to an increase in tax rates from 25% to 50%.»
No Elderly: «Children are not born and the population ages and is of pensionable age. Economically this means an increase in fixed costs. Society has no more money to look after the elderly and as a result is studying the so-called sudden death.»
No Work: «To be able to consume, we have moved the most important work to Asia. Half of what was first produced in the Western world, today is imported because it costs less. By moving production, jobs have also moved. Hence, there is no longer work and 70%-80% are employed in the service sector.»
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On ZENIT’s Web page:
A report on the symposium: www.zenit.org/article-34150?l=english
