The Great Debate

Italy pays its people to go on vacation

The following article by Silvia Marchetti first appeared in GlobalPost.

ROME, Italy — “Exploit your holidays to discover your unique, magical Italy,” intones Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in a new TV ad encouraging Italians to vacation at home this year.

For those Italians still unsure of exactly why they should “discover” Italy — according to Berlusconi, a land not just of “sky, sun and sea but also of history, culture and art — the state has thrown in a sweetener: it will help pay for citizens’ summer or winter breaks by granting “holiday vouchers.”

Berlusconi’s government believes that tourism can be a strategic tool in Italy’s economic recovery, but only if Italians spend money for vacations at home instead of abroad.

The coupons are available to all low-income families, especially those with many children, who wish to go to the seaside or mountains but can’t normally afford it. If the state has its way, visits to sunny beaches or historical cities will no longer be a privilege for the few, but a right of the many.

from Commentaries:

Time to get tough with AIG

Matthew Goldstein

Aug 28, 2009 15:00 EDT

It's time for someone in the Obama administration to read the riot act to Robert Benmosche, American International Group's new $7 million chief executive.

Since getting the job, Benmosche has spent more time at his lavish Croatian villa on the Adriatic coast than at the troubled insurer's corporate offices in New York.

And in the short term, Benmosche's vacation strategy appears to be paying dividends.

This week, AIG's shares surged 44 percent, to nearly $50, after Benmosche said that he intended to move slower than his predecessor in selling off AIG's still viable divisions.

Maybe Benmosche should consider relocating AIG's headquarters to Dubrovnik.

But the big run-up in AIG shares is merely a sideshow for momentum players, speculators and Hank Greenberg, the former AIG chieftain who controls about 11 percent of the company's outstanding shares.

The reality is that AIG exists today only because of the $180 billion lifeline the insurer has received from the federal government. Even Benmosche acknowledges that, telling The Wall Street Journal: "If the U.S. government doesn't continue to support AIG, we will fail."