Italy is simply making a political choice to attract wealthy people instead of other people. Is it unsustainable as you put it, who knows? But what we know for sure is unsustainable is raising taxes like France every year on the middle class.

Also contrary to France who is running a 6% deficit annually, Italy is running a 3% deficit so it is managing its finances much better than France.

So much so in fact that France has become the de-facto "sick-man" of Europe because it is simply incapable of reforming itself.

Macron is on his way out and his government is paralyzed because they do not have a majority in parliament and he is pretty much hated by everyone. Meloni on the other hand is pretty well liked and has good chance of being reelected in 2027.

In France the situation is much more unstable with new candidates for the presidential election coming out of the woodwork every month including Francois Hollande, the most hated president of the entire 5th French republic who sees himself making a comeback somehow.

The outlook for France in 2027 and beyond is bleak. There are no parties interested in reforming France so the debt will keep on increasing, the public services will keep on deteriorating and none of the structural issues will be resolved either by the right or the left.

All of this to say that if I was wealthy French resident, I would consider moving to a country that is taxing me less and that is also much more politically and fiscally stable at the moment than France.

>If you're paying a million euros of income tax a year in France, Italy is very tempting. As for US citizens, Americans are always taxable on worldwide income, so moving to Italy would not help their tax bill.

This characterization:

>selling for an unsustainably low price)

also applies to previous governments and voters that approved defined benefit pensions and retiree healthcare that needs ever growing populations to fund it.

I can see the situation just as easily be characterized as “avoid being liable for an unsustainable debt”.