1. 2 - 1. 4 - 1. 6 - 1. 8 united states / 0 31 / 22 / 0 28 / 22 / 0 28 / 22 / 0 26 / 22 / 0 24 / 22 / 0 21 / 22 / 0 20 / 22 / 0 17 / 22 / 0 14 / 22 / 0 12 / 22 / 1 10 / 22 / 1 08 / 22 / 1 05 / 22 / 0 03 / 23 / 0 2 / euro area source : c. hoynck and l. rossi ( 2023 ), “ the drivers of market - based inflation expectations in the euro area and in the us ”, mimeo, bank of italy, rome. note : 5 - year inflation swap rates ; changes with respect to 3 january 2022. figure 12 inflation ( monthly data ; 3 - month annualised percentage changes ) us uk ez - 5 - 5 source : eurostat, uk office for national statistics and us bureau of labor statistics. note : ez denotes the euro area.

the g20 will succeed. the euro area as a whole is sounder than other currency areas. public budgets and the external accounts are more balanced. but the attack on it now under way is not directed against the area as a whole. exploiting the opportunity offered by the unfinished state of the project, it isolates the weakest members. there is but one answer : the euro lives with all its members, large and small, strong and weak. if in the past it was an illusion to think that the currency alone could “ make ” europe, today the only course of action is to reinforce the construction of europe : in the political sphere, with a more active government of the union ; in budgetary discipline and in progress on structural reform, with a new stability and growth pact that is at once broader and more binding. two years ago i devoted a good part of my concluding remarks to the persistent gap between the north and south of italy. and it was with that examination that, in practice, the bank of italy began the celebration of italy ’ s 150 years of national unity. we are convinced that national unity must be honoured by strengthening it, ensuring its vitality and adapting it to a new era. this is not the first time in its history that italy has been faced with an arduous collective challenge. it has faced and overcome many in the past century and a half. let me mention two examples. the greatest challenge of all, in terms of structural reforms, arose when italy, immediately after national unity, prepared to participate in the life of europe with a population that was 75 per cent illiterate, against 30 per cent in the united kingdom and 10 per cent in sweden. national political leaders, administrators, teachers, north and south, joined together to fight the battle for literacy. in the end we did come up to the level of the rest of europe, and this was one of the factors behind the economic miracle after the second world war. in 1992 we were confronted with a much more severe budget crisis than those facing some european countries today. the government of the day presented a financial adjustment plan which, enjoying national consensus, gained credibility in the markets with no assistance either from international institutions or from other countries. the struggle was long drawn out : under a flexible exchange rate regime, three years on, spreads still exceeded 650 basis points. yet the battle was won, because the successive governments maintained fiscal discipline : stability had been incorporated into the country ’ s political culture. today