Discussions at this Meeting for the Aspen Junior Fellows began with acknowledgment that Italy’s maritime border along the Mediterranean is the country’s only extra-European frontier. Italy’s location and coastal development continue to ensure the country a flow of income from its role as a strategic European hub in what has come to be known as the new “maritime century”.
Serving as the opening premise for proceedings at this session of the Aspen Transatlantic Dialogue was the observation that productivity, not employment, will be the engine of the next industrial revolution, and that, despite the difficulties stemming from the prolonged crisis, the anti-decline camp has ample justification for envisioning a future in which manufacturing and industry will continue to play a central role. It was stressed, however, that they can only play such a role by undergoing transformation.
This National Interest event of the Italian Talent Abroad group focused on work, training and innovation as the key launching pads for the country’s future. It was noted that while the issue of employment is one that impacts on the whole of Europe, it has an even greater bearing in Italy. In particular, there is a risk of losing an entire generation of talent, thereby fueling a vicious circle, since the destruction of skills and expertise in many sectors constitutes an irreversible process.
There is a broad consensus on the key issues that will determine the sustainability and efficiency of the eurozone (and the European Union as a whole). These include common mechanisms in Europe, domestic political consensus in the face of the considerable sacrifices imposed on citizens, the functioning of national institutions to introduce necessary reforms; and mutual trust between the member countries.
Organized in collaboration with the Italian Business & Investment Initiative, this international workshop highlighted a renewed openness towards investing in Italy precisely because it possesses – albeit frequently not well-known – assets of interest to investors. It was stressed, however, that implementing (not merely announcing or adopting) reforms, and providing certainty, consistency and a business-friendly environment, remain the real challenges to overcome, as there is fierce competition between nations to attract foreign investment.
In kick-starting this Meeting of the Aspen Junior Fellows group, the question was posed as to whether a relationship exists between the impetus for reform and the advent of new generations. Reference was made, in this regard, to an observation made by Thomas Jefferson, who wrote that every generation has the right to write its own constitution[1] and to adopt its own institutions.
In 1764, the now famous treatise “On Crimes and Punishments” was published anonymously, meeting with a success that today would be described as global, creating quite a stir in Italy, and exerting an influence both on the Founding Fathers in the United States and on the Napoleonic Constitution in France. Two years later, having already become an established work, it was released again – though this time it was attributed to the pen of Cesare Beccaria.
Setting the backdrop for discussions at this National Roundtable session were the latest global liquidity indicators produced by the Bank for International Settlements, according to which credit at a global level is in abundant supply, risk appetite is strengthening, and credit conditions are loosening. This, again pursuant to the Bank for International Settlements, is favoring the growth of debt issuance and loans over bank-intermediated cross-border funding. The private equity sector has also been picking up since 2013.
With the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage marking the 40th year since its inception and the inauguration of its then first minister Giovanni Spadolini, the 13th Annual Conference of the Aspen Junior Fellows seized the opportunity afforded by the occasion to take stock of the current state of the cultural sector in Italy, focusing particularly on the balance to be struck between the preservation of artistic heritage and its exploitation to best advantage from an economic and social standpoint, as well as to articulate a vision for the sector’s future.
Kick-starting discussions at this Meeting of the Friends of Aspen group was the observation that the establishment of the Social Impact Investment Taskforce (SIIT) by the G8 has sparked debate in a number of countries on social finance and the important role it can play.
Kick-starting discussions at this national conference was the observation that with a turnover of 132 billion euro and a workforce of 385,000 people, the food industry confirmed its position in 2013 as a leading sector of the Italian economy, holding up well against cyclical pressures despite the difficulties.
This talk-debate session focused on the Republican victory in the recent US midterm elections, heralded as unquestionably significant in terms of both numbers and scale. President Obama is potentially up against both the House of Representatives and the Senate – a circumstance that is certainly nothing new in the American political system. Indeed, in the last sixty years, Jimmy Carter and Lyndon Johnson were the only presidents not forced to contend with a “divided government”, making the latter an established institutional tradition of politics across the pond.
320 times greater than the store of knowledge kept in the legendary Library of Alexandria, and representing a mass of data which, if stored on DVDs stacked on top of each other, would cover five times the distance from the Earth to the Moon and back again: it was in these terms that participants at this national roundtable described the wealth of knowledge that forms the preserve of contemporary man, and which, evocative analogies aside, comprises the extraordinary body of information commonly known as big data.
With issue 66 of the Institute’s Aspenia journal spotlighting, among other things, the Expo 2015 world’s fair to be held in Milan, the panel discussion for the launch of the volume examined the legacy of hosting such a global event. As a showcase of the best that the country has to offer, it was suggested that the event will not just have the admirable outcome of focusing international political debate on the world food problem and food security, but will also serve as a strategic litmus test for the city of Milan and its ambition to become an “ever-smarter city”.
Kick-starting this national roundtable event was the observation that the question of the competitiveness of Italian firms in global markets can be summed up in the indisputable if somewhat simplified proposition that while exports alone are not enough to get by on, they are nevertheless vital for survival. It was noted that the longstanding issue of the internationalization of Italian SMEs has been a subject of public debate for decades, in parallel with the escalation of globalization and the technological revolution.
Discussions at this event focused primarily on the profound changes taking place in the news and publishing industry. It was remarked that, on the one hand, the industry is having to respond to competitive pressures common to other sectors, first and foremost being the search for efficiency gains in a globalized market, and, on the other, editorial product is undergoing an extraordinary transformation wrought by technological innovation.
A year on from Aspen Italia’s 2013 National Conference on the banking system, participants gathered for this third edition of the event to take stock of the role and responsibilities of banks in the current economic situation.
