American born, with origins in Puglia, John D'Attoma is a Ph.D candidate at the University of Missouri-St. Louis studying Italian tax policy and taxpayer behavior. John holds a Master's degree in International Relations and Comparative Political Economy from St. John's University in Rome. He currently teaches American Government at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, but is moving to Florence in January to put the final touches on his dissertation. Although primarily a researcher and academic, for John, it is extremely important that scholars are increasingly connected to policy makers and other citizens through their writing.
Ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi once famously claimed that the evasion of high taxes is a ‘God-given right.’ As many European nations grapple with debt crises, the costs of rampant tax evasion are once again at the forefront of public debates in Italy. Reports from the country&