Nerola (ROME)
12 March 2010
Aspen Seminar on Values and Society, Nerola, 2010
The Aspen Seminar on Values and Society, conducted in English and held in collaboration with The Aspen Institute, followed the same format as the seminar held in Moltrasio (Como) on March 5-7, 2010. Aimed at a diverse group of participants, the event involved members of the Aspen Junior Fellows and young leaders from Italy and abroad. The debate was significantly enriched by the diversity of the participants’ personal and professional backgrounds and nationalities.
Moltrasio (COMO)
5 March 2010
Aspen Seminar on Values and Society, Moltrasio, 2010
For the fourth consecutive year and in collaboration with The Aspen Institute, the Aspen Seminar on Values and Society was held in Italy. Since 1951, this series of seminars, which is conducted in English, has been the widely-acclaimed cornerstone program of the Aspen Institute tradition in the United States. This latest event in the series was aimed at Italian and overseas participants who, through an analysis and discussion of selected readings from classical and contemporary authors, debated the major universal values and their relationship with the burning issues of today.
Milan
22 February 2010
Increasing Italy’s exports
The roundtable got underway with an examination of the twofold characterization of Italian exports that has, for over a decade, been a core theme in public debate over the competitiveness of the Italian economy in the age of globalization – one which sees exports both as a driver of Italy’s growth and, at the same time, as a reflection of the outward-looking nature of the Italian production system.
Milan
8 February 2010
Italy’s cultural roots
Roots in the plural, put together like a mosaic of contributions and meanings that are sometimes even at variance: the foundations of Italian culture, it was suggested at this roundtable discussion, cannot be otherwise described. Formed from a diverse array of knowledge, customs and learning, Italian culture has over time developed a pluralistic unity.
Milan
1 February 2010
Obama and Europe: close or distant?
Discussions at this talk-debate, organized in collaboration with ISPI and TG1, focused on assessing the first year of Obama’s presidency, and examining the economic and financial crisis and the mechanisms developed to overcome it, as well as the relationship between the new US administration and Europe.
Rome
21 January 2010
Finding alternative indicators of well-being and growth in Italy
The debate over the need to broaden the scope of economic indicators – and more particularly, moving beyond measurements of GDP – has inspired a wide range of studies on the topic both in Italy and abroad. This roundtable event examined a recent Aspen Institute Italia-Fondazione Edison study entitled “Italy in the new geo-economy of the G-20”, which aims to contribute further to this discussion. The study reveals an Italy that is better-placed than indicated by traditional rankings and compares favorably with other industrialized economies in numerous fields.
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
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
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.