Mafia: the Price of Distrust

There is a number of places around the world where three unfortunate sets of circumstances coexist: where people do not cooperate when it would be mutually beneficial to do so; where they compete in harmful ways; and, finally, where they refrain from competing in those instances when they could all gain considerably from competition. There are probably not many, though, where such a powerful combination has lasted for centuries. Southern Italy especially the Tyrrhenian regions of Campania, Calabria, and Sicily is conspicuous among them, in spite of the fact that Italy as a whole is now one of the most successful of industrial countries.