Tax bonanza

摘要

The Italian language has no word for hangover. Yet the Italian people began 2008 with a worse one than most. Just before Christmas they learnt that in 2006 they were officially overtaken by Spain in gdp per head (see chart), which though not unexpected still came as a shock. And there is near-universal conviction among ordinary Italians that they personally are poorer than they were 12 months ago.