Based on the results of a three year empirical study analyzing the Italian economy, this work focuses on the role of state and private economic agents. Italy has a huge and interventionist governmental economic policy. Professor Padoa Schioppa Kostoris argues that much of this state action and regulation is irrational and counter-efficient. She further argues that the Italian economy is also characterized by a large and efficient black market, so that much of the private sector already evades state control. Since de facto deregulation therefore exists to a large extent, Kostoris calls for legal deregulation and privatization. She convincingly argues that a decrease in and an altered character of state action will enable the Italian economy to achieve higher growth, and to reconcile the goals of efficiency and public interest.