The Mafia's Influence on the Italian Economy
| The Mafia controls 20% of Italian businesses |
The Mafia excercises direct control over 15% of Italy's Gross National
Product |
The Mafia has a combined capital of about the equivilant to $800 billion
US dollars |
The Mafia as more than $11 billion in investments
in real estate |
The Mafia as more than $11 billion in financial
investments |
The Mafia's profits from conterfeiting and black
market activities equal $15.5 billion |
The mafia-like mentality that runs rampant through Sicilian life, called “mafiosità” doesn’t necessarily mean someone is in the Mafia, but states that his behavior is Mafioso-like. A “mafiosetta” is the Sicilian term for an attractive young woman who acts in a way similar to that of a Mafioso. The Italians have a name for bribery and kickbacks that dominate and perpetuate the cycle of corruption that leads to a perfect environment for organized crime: Bustarella (busta, indicating the envelope in which the money is paid in). The billions of dollars that are poured into the Sicilian economy by the World Bank, the United States, the European Commission and the central Italian government have ended up in the hands of corrupt politicians, consultants and others connected to the Mafia. Even the offspring of Mafioso who inherited illegal money are now considered legitimate citizens in good standing. Wealth is viewed, to many Sicilians, as an end in itself. As long as the unlawful activities go unpunished, they are of little importance, and what’s left, the wealth gained, are prime factors. Obviously the criminal justice system is seriously flawed, and that just goes to prove that “where there is no law, there is no sin.” Military promotions in Italy in the 1990s to colonel or general were often based on bribes around $20,000. There was very little prestige linked to any such military rank.
In the 1980s, the “progettista” was born. This new profession refers to a “project consultant” who tries to attain funds from the European Commission on behalf of a town or governmental agency (fairly reminiscent of US Senator’s pork barrel projects), and then squanders the funds, though first taking large commissions for himself and his cohorts. Many Sicilians consider these Progettisti as the new Mafiosi.
Current statistics indicate that organized crime controls one business in five in Italy (BBC.com), and a conference organized by the association in Milan said that the Mafia “controlled about 20% of all businesses” (BBC.com). It is also reported that the Mafia has an annual turnover of about $133 billion, the equivalent of 15% of Gross National Product. A conference document stated that counterfeiting accounts for a large amount of the Italian industrial production. Mafia profits are then being invested in real estate, clinics and retirement homes, supermarkets, hotels and restaurants (BBC. Com).