Austerity Fiscal policies versus Development policies in Italy and European Union

The debate on economic policy issues underway in Italy and EU shows two different stances: on one hand a support to restrictive budgetary policy, aimed at achieving the balance of government finance, as required by European Union, and accepted by 25 EU countries, that is the ones signatories of the Fiscal Compact; on the other hand the priority assigned to the objective of economic development, shared by many representatives of the political and academic institutions of southern European countries, who claim to loosen the constraints stemming from public finance surveillance.
In this framework the first paper, drafted by Aurelio Bruzzo, recalls this debate, highlighting the considerations mentioned by each group of economists, which you may find mixed in some studies worked out by supporters of intermediate positions.
The second paper, written by Massimiliano Di Pace, after having pointed out the reasons and the content of the Fiscal Compact, as well as the changes to the Italian Constitution entailing the budget balance rule, quantifies the impact of these new guidelines of fiscal policy on Italian public finance.
Both papers of this work are based on the belief that the two intended objectives of ongoing economic policy, that is financial stability and economic recovery, are not alternative, but complementary, and, under certain conditions, also compatible. In fact, together with the Fiscal Compact, it is still operational the Europe 2020 strategy, whose main objective is to create conditions for an intelligent, inclusive and sustainable economic growth.