Thanks partly to its perennial labour problems and government interference with management attempts to solve them, Alitalia has lost money for years.

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Mr Roh, a former labour lawyer, handled labour problems dismally during his first year, responding inconsistently to a series of crippling strikes.

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Most entrepreneurs of all sizes, while moaning about Italy's high tax rates and welfare and labour problems, acknowledge that the centre-left governments of the past six years, especially Mr Prodi's, did take big steps towards liberalisation, though they failed to get this across in the election.

ECONOMIST: A survey of Italy