Whenever you are faced with issues such as the economic growth and the development of a country, among the many economic meanings and not that are questioned as possible obstacles, there is always a particular one: corruption. It is well known that the presence of corruption, mainly in the public area, involves a number of negative effects, both direct and indirect- not to be underestimated by national governments - not only on the entire economic system of a country, determining a loss of competitiveness of the same, but also in institutional, political, cultural and social terms with consequent damage to the entire society.
In this perspective, the presentation offers some insights and thoughts regarding the phenomenon of corruption in Italy, highlighting the results from recent studies and research carried out at international and european level. According to these, the "bel Paese" is placed in a very unsatisfying position related to the other economically advanced countries, in terms of the diffusion of corruption, and a confirmation of that can be found in the recent scandals which involved Mafia Capitale of Rome, the EXPO of Milan and Mose of Venice, who testified, twenty years after "Mani Pulite", the massive presence of corruption in our country, questioning the policies put in place by the Government to contrast the phenomenon. If the diffusion of the phenomenon is particularly worrying, even more is the amount of public resources taken from from the circuit of the legal economy that impact, therefore, on the public finance system, already in strong difficulty, and under great pressure from the economic - financial crisis, as well as from the stringent constraints resulting from the commitments made in the European Union (eg. Fiscal Compact).