If I were asked to describe what has happened in Italy since 2008 – during seven years of deep economic and financial crisis – I would not just make reference to the dramatic – a 10% drop in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) – but I would go deeper. I would make reference to other significant data points.
The number of new cars sold receded to levels last seen in the 1970s, and cement production decreased to levels reminiscent of the 1960s. Since the beginning of the crisis in 2008, some 800,000 jobs have been lost in the real estate sector. This is another way of looking at the past few years, and I believe it adds a stronger, bitter flavour, and helps others to understand how severe the crisis was in my country.