Il sorpasso (economics)

Il sorpasso (Italian for "surpass") is a nickname for the 1987 Italian economy surpass of the British one (in absolute GDP terms), turning Italy into the 5th World's Economy, after the United States, Japan, Germany, and France. The surpass was the result of the Italian government recalibrating its statistics in order to account for its large underground economy.

References

* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE5DE163DF935A25754C0A96F948260 Article on the NYT]
* [http://www.economist.com/surveys/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=5164061 Article on The Economist]