Milan
27 January 2014
The new Italian manufacturing: American and Asian models
The manufacturing sector has changed considerably over recent years across the entire globe, and Italy too has undergone some very profound adjustments. But while every advanced country, with the exception of Germany, has lost major chunks of the manufacturing export market, a gradual upgrade and redistribution process has kept Italian manufacturing competitive despite a steep drop in domestic demand, and Italian sector firms have lost a smaller share than those of other more mature economies.
Roma
22 January 2014
Suggestions for Italy’s spending review
This national roundtable discussion got underway with the observation that at the heart of Italy’s spending review is the idea of reducing expenditure for the purpose of rebalancing public finances or achieving other priority objectives such as alleviating the tax burden – a concept which, in reality, is not entirely new in Italy. Indeed, soon after the unification of the Kingdom of Italy, the Historical Right (to which Sella belonged) was engaged in a process of rationalizing expenditure with a view to balancing the budget.
Milan
20 January 2014
“Mediacracy”: how media and politics interact
The participants at this national roundtable noted that, since its very beginnings, the story of the media has been interwoven with power (and the ability to call it to account). This was the case of the first gazettes to emerge in the seventeenth century in various European cities, though it was felt that other crucial milestones on this journey are also worth remembering, such as Voltaire’s “Treatise on Tolerance“, which, through an indictment not at all far removed from that of modern media campaigns, achieved important results for eighteenth-century French society.
Rome
20 January 2014
From banks to competitive enterprises
Leading in to discussions at this Aspen Junior Fellows event was the observation that 2014 is the launch year for the European Banking Union, the product of what have been difficult compromises between the various countries involved after six years of financial crisis and two recessions.
Rome
15 January 2014
Challenges for Italy’s start‐ups and the US market: innovation, technology, capital
Participants at this Aspen Italia National Interest event recognized from the outset of their discussions the crucial role that start-ups could – given the right conditions – play in increasing Italy’s economic competitiveness. The formation of new businesses in highly innovative sectors was acknowledged as not only helping to renew the economic fabric of the country, by opening up new market niches, but also as offering opportunities to younger workers, a group heavily penalized by the current crisis.
Venice
4 October 2013
Pivot to Europe: options for a new Atlantic century
At this latest edition of the Aspen Transatlantic Dialogue, the participants pointed to recent developments in the United States – with the at-least partial “shutdown” of federal government operations – as highlighting the multiple dysfunction of political systems on both sides of the Atlantic. It was noted that, in the midst of an economic recovery that is uncertain, in some respects fragile, and unquestionably asymmetric (both as between different sectors and between different countries), the efficiency of government decision-making becomes crucial.
Rome
22 May 2013
Saving Europe: a new compact across the Atlantic
The main challenge identified as facing European leaders was that of striking a delicate balance between maintaining domestic political consensus (in the face of strong social tensions) and implementing necessary but painful reforms that almost without exception will only yield positive results in the medium to long term. While the worst of the financial crisis seems to have been overcome, many concerns remain regarding the overall state of Europe’s economies and the EU’s continued viability from a political and institutional standpoint.
Rome
16 December 2013
Generation Y and the employment challenge
At this event to discuss the latest issue of the Aspenia journal, it was observed that growth and jobs figures continue to deliver an undeniably worrying outlook for Europe, and Italy in particular. The Italian economy is still losing jobs, especially positions for young people, while the recovery is set to be slow (and uneven as between different parts of the country), with the expected increase in job opportunities falling below GDP growth.
Rome
28 November 2013
The digital agenda and the financial sector
Proceedings at this National Conference got underway with the observation that the ICT industry characterizes and defines the age we live in. The spread of digital technology has led to a radical sea change in the economic system that is perhaps yet to be fully grasped. The profound and complex changes that this has given rise to in a number of spheres of endeavor are often perceived as a threat in Italy, due to the devastating effects they are having on the status quo, on centers of power, on existing organizational structures, and on employment.
Rome
13 November 2013
Modernizing Italy’s public administration for people and business
It was noted at this national roundtable discussion that, according to the two most well-known systems for measuring the level of economic freedom existing in a country, the extent to which public authorities function well is a fundamental indicator of the same. Similarly, it is widely acknowledged that in countries where the functioning of the public administration meets the expectations of citizens, people can even be amenable to a high level of taxation.
Rome
8 November 2013
Creating excellence. Strategic choices and indispensable resources for educating leaders
The title of this 12th Annual Conference of the Aspen Junior Fellows group was conceived as embodying the Aspen Institute’s core mission, namely, that of promoting and instilling values-based leadership. The theme of this year’s session was chosen with a view to specifically focus on the growing international dimension of knowledge, and to examine whether a multidisciplinary knowledge model (of the European humanist tradition) or a specialized knowledge model is to be preferred.
Milan
4 November 2013
Does Italy’s important industrial sector still have a future?
Participants at this roundtable session were of a consensus that Italy still has an effective industrial system, and may continue to do so as long as a major restructure is undertaken so as to provide a boost for a great swathe of firms that are currently wavering between the boon of opportunities offered by global growth and the risk of being marginalized.
Milan
24 October 2013
The future of capitalism in Italy: the role of youth in a more competitive world
Opening discussions at this Aspen Junior Fellows event was the observation that the increase in the speed of progression of events and the shift towards a multipolar and networked world have led to a transformation in capitalism, with the advent of techno-finance representing one of the most obvious low points of this phenomenon.
Rome
23 October 2013
Charity and the global economy: in search of a new model
Discussions at this national roundtable session got underway with the opening premise that the economic crisis and its social consequences have profoundly called into question the prevailing economic paradigm – a model based on competitive individualism, maximizing the profit of the individual, and an “invisible hand” regulating the market. The result is that the idea of the common interest merely being the sum of individual interests no longer seems sustainable in the current economic and social climate.
Geneva
18 October 2013
Science and innovation: research, infrastructure and international collaboration
The opening premise of discussions at this International Conference was that scientific research is crucial to innovation, understood as both the discovery of new facts, data, or laws of nature, as well as knowledge with a direct technological application. Indeed, technology provides an essential bridge between science and society. As a demonstration of this, the participants pointed to the limitless practical applications of the World Wide Web (which had its origins at CERN, based on the development of the internet), citing it as a case where the industrial spinoff has been enormous.