Population ageing is a global trend affecting all the world’s foremost economies. The phenomenon is have an especially significant impact on China and Europe and seems destined, along with the climate crisis, to be among the main generators of change in twenty-first century societies. Governments, citizens and the business community thus find themselves facing a range of challenges as well as a host of opportunities.
The definition of America’s as a “boom” economy is amply justified by the 21 months of growth confirmed by the prestigious National Bureau of Economic Research. A historic fact comparable perhaps only to the 1960s of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson and the early Reagan years. Current fiscal stimulus amounting to nearly 6 trillion dollars is far more substantial than the New Deal or post-Second World War measures.
The relationship between information and power is not a new concern. Ancient Greek historian Polybius defined ochlocracy as the degeneration of democracy where the mob is led to believe it is free to exercise its prerogatives while instead becoming the active instrument of one or more groups. The exponential spread of interconnected actors has fed a considerable flow of web-channeled data, the appropriate use of which platforms are required to manage. This endeavor calls for an ability to differentiate between content that is legal and that which may constitute a violation.
Italian industry is compelled to face the prospect of a future digital market, along with the continuing paradigm shifts that technological transformation is imposing on the economic and social fabric. The radical transformation of manufacturing, consumption and habits is having a significant impact not only on daily activities but also on the capacity for near-future analysis and forecast.
Aspenia 94 (in Italian), entitled “I nuovi dopoguerra”, analyzes the many complexities of the international economic picture. It is possible that the post-Covid era will open up scenarios similar to those of the 1970s, or even something resembling the “roaring Twenties” and its tragic epilogue, the Great Depression of 1929.
The United States-China face-off is surely going to dominate in the near future. Washington now considers the bid to involve China in a liberal order, which Beijing itself has deemed illegitimate, a lost cause. Thus, in order to prevent the confrontation from becoming a conflict – or even war – it is going to be necessary to establish some collaborative terrain on global issues in a context otherwise dominated by sharp contrasts. It is not the Congress but rather the American economic world that interacts and is heavily interdependent with the Chinese economy.
The world of finance, with its products and markets, is undergoing a deep transformation. Indeed, from the standpoint of technology, the instruments made available to operators over the past 10 years have revolutionized the sector.
The Covid-19 pandemic has radically modified the consumer industry over the last 18 months. If, in a first phase, we saw the acceleration of trends that were already widespread, such as e-commerce, over time we witnessed the rise of new priorities, generally viewed as secondary in the pre-pandemic phase, including, but not limited to, the protection of the environment and the physical and mental well-being of the person.
The pandemic experience and consequent evolution of the global economic picture make even clearer than before the need for Italy and Europe to cultivate an attractive environment for industrial investments, primarily those strategic to national growth and security. This along with the promotion of adequate public and private level competences and a deep reform of the public administration aimed at higher quality and rapidity in decision-making.
Many factors have converged to bring radical change to the scenario:
The Made in Italy brand and its propensity for exportation has always been an essential component of the Italian economy, playing a crucial role in the development and growth of the national entrepreneurial fabric. Exports continue to be a driver of the economy’s competitiveness thanks to progress that is predicted to surpass 11% in 2021, with prospects over the next three years of maintaining a pace beyond that of the pre-pandemic period.
On September 24-25, 2021 Aspen Institute Italia, TIM and Intesa Sanpaolo organized the international conference “Ethics and Artificial Intelligence”, under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic and with the cooperation of Aspen Institute Germany, Institut Aspen France and the Academy of Sciences of Bologna Institute.
The COP26 offers a crucial window of opportunity in the struggle against climate change. After the G20 in Naples, the Glasgow conference under the Italian and British presidency will be a moment for the world’s most prominent economies to scrutinize fulfillment of the 2015 Paris Accord pledges and discuss future steps.
Post-covid recovery needs women. Women’s empowerment is pivotal to tapping our society’s potential and meeting the challenges of the coming years. The digital revolution and the ecological transition are processes poised to stimulate the raising of a new development model above the wreckage the pandemic will have left behind. The need to draft new paradigms is precisely what makes diversity and broader vision at all levels, starting with decision makers, fundamental.
The world economy has started down the right path to achieving the environmental goals set by the EU and those underwritten in Paris in 2015, but still lags behind in terms of deadlines. European efforts must, in any case, be viewed within the broader global context, since all the data point to Asia – headed up by China, but not exclusively – as the worst offender in terms of harmful emissions. This is especially due to the use of carbon in this phase of post-pandemic economic recovery. Asia remains the principal problem even considering the combined American and European contribution.
Relations between the European Union and Russia have been turbulent lately, and there are currently no signs of that letting up, if not in terms of specific and limited pragmatic expectations. The two parties agree substantially on the assumption that dialogue is the preferable tack in diplomatic relations, even in the presence of deep differences of opinion and interests. Not even a summit is to be viewed as a reward or concession, yet can be useful as an occasion for frank discussion of the thornier issues.
The digital revolution has profoundly changed how goods and services are consumed by increasing their availability online, thereby enhancing the role of web platforms. Indeed, these latter have been an essential tool for extending political rights such as freedom of speech, and for framing new ones, especially within the economic sphere, such as consumer rights. At the same time, however, they have laid the groundwork for a concentration of overriding powers, and the abuse of those powers.
