Loving Rome means cleaning it up

What constitutes a "mafia"? The term was first applied to Sicily's Cosa and also to a criminal organization in the United States. In Italy it is also widely used to refer to the Camorra in Campania, and the `Ndraghetta in Calabria. Article 416 of the Italian Criminal Code states "an organisation is of a mafia-type when those participating in it take advantage of the organisation's power of intimidation and of the resulting conditions of submission and omertà (culture of silence) in order to commit criminal offences..." By this definition, is there a [Maltese] mafia?

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

Dodgy investors with hot money will fill the void if state investors don't have the political will, imagination, resources and access to low interest capital to take the initiative on what would be perceived as high risk and hugely capital intensive projects. Ideally the EU would enter into state level cooperation agreements with Saharan countries.  The amount of capital required to generate economies of scale and profit margins sufficient to cover interest costs might preclude smaller entities from taking the lead, although pension funds might like the long term return characteristics of such projects. Get rich quick small scale investers, less so.

Index of Frank's Diaries