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      • Rome
        • 14 January 2010
         
         

        Beyond GDP: quantity and quality of growth

          Proceedings at this roundtable discussion got underway with the acknowledgement that, in recent years, consideration of the question of how to measure economic performance and social progress has gone far beyond the concept of Gross Domestic Product. This is true of the efforts of national statistical institutes, major international organizations, as well as the academic and research sphere. Today, there is a vast array of knowledge and statistical data available, enabling a much more comprehensive grasp of economic activities and their actual value.

        • Berlin
          • 17 April 2009
           
           

          Europe on the edge: the weak links and the Russia link

            The current economic crisis is subjecting the entire “EU system” to conflicting pressures. On the one hand, the search for a synergistic and coordinated approach to economic policies would undoubtedly be facilitated if its joint institutions were performing well.

          • Rome
            • 17 December 2009
             
             

            The future of Europe

              During this lecture, it was highlighted that 2009 marks two important events for Europe: the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and, with the coming into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on December 1, the end of the third stage in the construction of Europe, which during the period 1990-2009 saw a major enlargement of the Union to include new members together with a first attempt at establishing a European Constitution.

            • Milan
              • 14 December 2009
               
               

              Italy’s banking system after the financial crisis

                The National Conference got underway with the observation that one of the negative effects of the international financial crisis has been to halt debate on the problems afflicting the savings market in Italy, and on what measures are needed to overcome them. These problems were already beginning to emerge as early as the late 1990s, but they have become more evident as a result of the crisis.

              • Rome
                • 27 November 2009
                 
                 

                Politics, science and innovation across the Atlantic

                  The starting point for the discussions at this event was scientific method, with an emphasis on the complex and often problematic interaction of the “exact” sciences with politics and, more particularly, with the media – an indispensable vehicle for getting through to the general public and hence, indirectly, to leaders. It was stressed that complete adherence by physicists and biologists to professional ethics is essential if knowledge is to be used properly in addressing many social and economic problems.

                • Milan
                  • 22 November 2009
                   
                   

                  For a new creative leadership: culture and innovation for economic growth

                    The 14th Annual Conference of the Friends of Aspen, held at the Palazzo Litta in Milan, featured a debate on the ways in which a combination of culture and innovation could give rise to new forms of leadership capable of revitalizing Italian economic life – particularly its entrepreneurial scene.

                    As is now customary, the Conference – chaired for the first time by the group’s new president, Beatrice Trussardi – also provided an opportunity to introduce new members to the group and to present the group’s activities to them.

                  • Milan
                    • 16 November 2009
                     
                     

                    Simpler norms: modernizing Italy

                      The participants at this roundtable event noted that, in terms of Italy’s economic development and competitiveness, regulatory simplification represents a fundamental challenge for the modernization of the country. Unnecessary red tape – the result of the application of obsolete laws – places a burden on both individuals and businesses which effectively amounts to a form of hidden taxation. Put in other terms, it represents an engaged handbrake on an economy that needs to take off again.

                    • Rome
                      • 13 November 2009
                       
                       

                      The Enlightenment and the transatlantic link: common roots and today’s challenges

                        This Seminar, organized in conjunction with The Aspen Institute, America, examined the relevance today of Enlightenment values through the analysis of more than forty texts by American and European authors – including several Italian writers – which paved the way for contemporary thinking. The Seminar got underway with a look at the contradictions of our time, caught as it is between universalist idealism and the need for concrete responses to global problems.

                      • Rome
                        • 27 October 2009
                         
                         

                        Projects for Italy’s 150th anniversary

                          The seminar got underway with the participants recalling that when Charles De Gaulle met André Malraux in the aftermath of the Second World War, he said to him, “D’abord le passé”, meaning that a sense of history enables each of us to look back at the past to find our way out of a current critical phase and work towards building the future.

                        • Lecce
                          • 23 October 2009
                           
                           

                          Talk-debate: Italy and its south

                            The participants in this talk-debate noted that by acknowledging the existence of various “Souths” in Italy rather than continuing to speak of “the South”, efforts have been made in recent years to mitigate the persistence of the serious and unresolved question of the South. The underlying hope has been that, by differentiating between the various areas of Italy’s Mezzogiorno, widespread change and gradual renewal might be encouraged to take root.

                          • Lecce
                            • 23 October 2009
                             
                             

                            Markets and energy/environmental policy: choices for growth and competition in Italian industry

                              The seminar discussions got underway with the observation that international energy markets are the litmus test of a crisis whose outcomes are still uncertain. The dramatic slump in global demand has triggered a sharp fall in prices, but speculative interests and unfounded concerns that the peak oil point is approaching continue to artificially sustain share prices at levels that lack any sound market justification.

                            • Lecce
                              • 23 October 2009
                               
                               

                              Health sciences in Italy: living better and longer

                                The Seminar discussions highlighted the divide that exists in Italy today between the core research sector and the business world. It was noted that there is a lack of osmosis capable, on the one hand, of making the most of potential and, on the other, of integrating it into a productive strategy to support the country’s economy. There is a need for the State to coordinate research centers, health authorities, industry and the regulatory sphere, in accordance with policy choices formulated on the basis of the health needs of the country.

                              • Lecce
                                • 23 October 2009
                                 
                                 

                                Business, productivity, active society: a recipe for growth

                                  The participants in this seminar observed that after the shock of the crisis, the economy is searching for ways and means of coming out of the recession with a new model for growth. The first signs of recovery are raising hopes everywhere that the worst may be over – even in Italy. However, despite indications emerging from the financial market, the impact of the crisis on the real economy and employment are far from being a thing of the past.

                                • Lecce
                                  • 23 October 2009
                                   
                                   

                                  New paradigms of progress and capitalism

                                    This seminar examined developments in the concept of progress and in models of capitalism in light of the profound economic and social changes wrought by the financial and economic crisis.

                                  • Milan
                                    • 9 October 2009
                                     
                                     

                                    Jump-starting economic growth

                                      The participants at this talk and debate session were reminded that the main priority on the economic agenda of Western countries is the immediate promotion of sustainable recovery. The fact that there are 22 million unemployed people in Europe is indicative of the social hardship caused by the recession. Linked to this surplus production capacity is a reduced ability to use leveraging (the very mechanism that induced “euphoria” within the economic system thereby triggering the crisis).

                                    • Rome
                                      • 8 October 2009
                                       
                                       

                                      After the crisis: renewing Italy’s leadership

                                        A key theme at this roundtable session was that leadership entails not only managing the present but also imagining and building the “future”. However, a series of obstacles is often encountered within this complex process, including an “antagonistic” attitude that is quite widespread in political – but also other – spheres, and a hollow rhetoric of the future steeped in words such as innovation, research, quality and merit that are often advocated but rarely given substance through effective decisions.

                                      • Cernobbio
                                        • 27 September 2009
                                         
                                         

                                        Italian successes and talented operators around the world

                                          The experience gained by Italians around the world, the challenges that will need to be faced to build global skills, and the ability of the national economy to operate as a global actor are all aspects of a single issue, namely: how to make the most of overseas Italian talent. Talented Italians are finding it increasingly easier to emigrate rather than build reasonable career prospects for themselves at home.

                                        • Rome
                                          • 18 September 2009
                                           
                                           

                                          The world after the crash

                                            The breakfast meeting got underway with an identification of the long-term challenges that the economic crisis poses to the West. It was noted that the last twenty years have been marked by momentous changes. In the 1990s, the various areas of the world became increasingly interdependent. As a result, the last ten years have seen the highest global GDP growth ever recorded, fueled mainly by the US deficit and Chinese exports. However, the scale of this financial and trade imbalance cannot support future growth.