Tuesday, March 12, 2013

On the Brink in Italy


GUIDONIA, Italy — Emanuele Tedeschi wiped  sawdust from his hands and gestured around the cavernous woodworking factory that has been in his family for two  generations. The big machines, which used to run overtime carving  custom furnishings for private homes, Roman palazzi  and even the  Vatican,  sat idle on a shop floor nearly devoid of workers.
'‘A year and a half ago, the noise from production was so loud that  you had to shout to be heard,’' said Mr. Tedeschi, walking amid  pallets of cherry and other fine woods stacked up and waiting for a purpose.
Since a government austerity plan designed to shield Italy from  Europe’s debt crisis took hold last year, the economy has tumbled  into one of worst recessions of any euro zone country, and Mr.  Tedeschi’s orders have all but dried up.  His company, Temeca, is still in business. For now.
But among Italy’s estimated six  million companies, businesses of all  sizes have been going belly up at the rate of 1,000 a day over the  last year, especially among the small and midsize companies that  represent the backbone of Italy’s 1.5 trillion euro, or $2 trillion, economy.
The situation has become more urgent after inconclusive elections  in February that left politics in Rome gridlocked. '‘With no one  governing the country, there will be more paralysis, so things will get worse,’' said Mr. Tedeschi, 49, casting a worried glance at his wife and their 23-year-old son. They help fill the trickle of orders, now that Mr. Tedeschi has had to lay off 6 of the 11 full-time employees he had in mid-2011.