There's a Dark Side to the Boom in Milan
Inequality, pollution, housing costs soar as Italy’s business capital reverses a brain drain
As Milan, Italy, booms, inequality and homelessness are increasing.
Photographer: Anadolu Agency/AnadoluOn a recent trip to a family friend’s in the UK, I was told their twentysomething was leaving London for a new job in Milan. Apart from a promotion and an exit from Britain’s economic doldrums, the attraction was a policy designed to reverse a brain drain that allowed him to avoid tax on as much as 70% of his income, his delighted father explained.
He’s not alone. The tax regime rolled out in Italy in 2015 and then made more generous in 2019 is behind the return not just of Italians who’ve been based abroad throughout the euro era — or more — but the arrival of foreigners to Italy too. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has begun moving some of its euro swaps trading desk to Milan, according to a recent Bloomberg News report. Regulatory pressures to move bankers out of London post-Brexit has been a push factor. But paying less tax in Italy has been cited as a significant pull. Likewise, Milan’s geographical position; a favorite phrase in the city is that it takes two hours to get anywhere: seaside, mountains, or art-laden cities like Florence or Venice.