Letters

摘要

You inferred that Italy's government stole funds intended for the south of the country-your term was "raid-ed"-to use for other things ("The messy mezzogiorno", August 15th). I assure you that no such theft has taken place. Southern Italy's backwardness is mostly explained by some local authorities squandering money on unnecessary projects. Public administration is often a substitute for market activity in the mezzogiorno and the region needs to become more efficient. After years of frittering away money, the government decided that rather than providing cash without any underlying logic (only to see it wasted, or worse, taken by the Mafia) we would assign funds to serious projects with a guarantee of transparency and legality.