Very good post. I am a dual citizen of the United States and Italy, and though I grew up in America and consider myself culturally more American than Italian, I lived, studied and worked (as a developer) in Italy.

It's difficult to describe the situation to an outsider, but I found Italy a beautiful place to live but a frustrating and difficult place to work.

1) Italian bureaucracy is maddening. Simple things that take five minutes in America, like getting residency in a state or setting up a bank account can take days if not weeks or months.

2) Taxes and rent are absurdly high compared to wages. I had a great job--and compared to my Italian born peers it really was--that earned 2,600Euro a month. My one bedroom apartment cost 1,400 Euro + 400 euro for utilities and taxes (and utilities is where you get taxed into oblivion).

3) Nepotism and "serving your own." True to what the article mentions, to get my job I had to go through 4-5 rounds of interviews. When I was chosen over the two other Italian candidates, they were blown away. How could they chose this foreigner over them? It didn't matter I was a better programmer, or an Italian citizen, or that I spoke Italian. I was American and they were Italian -- how could the employer possibly chosen me?

4) A cultural tolerance for being corrupt or sly and getting away with it. I'm generalizing some here, but I feel this to be true for the most part.

And, to those who speak Italian (sorry could not find the clip with subtitles), this is a wonderful scene related: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8TZNxWixN8