After hearing a bunch of Italians talk about Italy (they live there, not New Jersey descendants), and taking into account the whole mafia situation in the South, I'm not so sure if Italy is still a first-world country to be honest. That, and the descriptions from my dad when he had to go to Naples for a couple weeks in spring 2003 before he had to go to Iraq. Naples he said was an absolute dump. I told him over the phone Naples is pretty much the Detroit of Europe.
But man, imagine if Detroit had a Capri and an Ischia!