Word: italianizer
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...Germany and France, the nation has been struggling with weak consumer spending, waning productivity and rising government deficits. But unlike its neighbors, Italy lacks large robust corporations that can export their way out of trouble. Many of the thousands of small and medium-size companies that once gave the Italian economy its flexibility and dynamism are poorly equipped to deal with the challenges of a fast-changing world. Most don't have the scale, the funding or the commercial know-how to become global players. What they produce is beautiful, but it's neither particularly sophisticated nor difficult to replicate...
...When Italian manufacturers ran into competitive problems in the past, there used to be an easy fix: currency devaluation, which made Italian exports cheaper relative to those of other countries. But that solution is no longer available, because Italy swapped the lira for the euro, which has risen against most other currencies, including the dollar. "We used to say small is beautiful, but that's no longer true," says Adalberto Valduga, president of the regional chamber of commerce in nearby Udine, the provincial capital. While the strong euro is penalizing firms, he says the real challenge is a more fundamental...
...where they can both buy and sell. "Nobody can stop the Chinese anymore," says Lucio Zamò, one of the few remaining successful manufacturers of office chairs in the district. Zamò has been able to cut expenses by building chairs using imported Chinese aluminum bases, which cost 40% less than Italian ones...
...there protection in design capability, which has long been an Italian strength. Chairs are easily copied. Manzano's entrepreneurs complain that Chinese manufacturers simply steal what they find in catalogs and on websites. The Italians insist they still have an edge in quality--especially with chairs made out of fine wood or upholstered in top-quality leather-- and in their ability to tailor production to customers like the hotel industry. But even there the Chinese are muscling...
...their detractors, Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra (left) and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (right) are crony capitalists who bully their opposition and the media. To their supporters, they're men of action, a welcome contrast to ineffective leaders of the past. Now, however, both have problems: Thaksin faces street protests demanding he resign over the $1.87 billion sale of his family's Shin Corp. media empire, while Fininvest media mogul Berlusconi, trailing in the polls before Italy's April 9-10 election, is accused of conspiring to give false testimony in a corruption case against him. They have other...