Italy’s south or “Mezzogiorno” is a region that fails to meet todays challenges. It deserves better, but the lack of infrastructure and of qualified labor, as well as excessive bureaucracy, high levels of organized crime, widespread disrespect for the law, weak institutions and a lack of social capital. These obstacles make it difficult for the region to take advantage of its many opportunities for development.
For the second consecutive year, Aspen Italia organized The Aspen Seminar – in English and in collaboration with The Aspen Institute. A key program in the United States, The Aspen Seminar has proved successful on Italian soil as well. Discussion was led by two expert American moderators: Howard Zeiderman, Director Executive of The Aspen Institute Seminar Program and Professor of Philosophy, and Leigh Hafrey, Professor of Ethics at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. The initiative was aimed at young leaders, with various backgrounds.
Evaluating the turnover between Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev at the presidency requires a recognition of the central role that Putin continues to occupy on the Russian political scene. It seems indeed clear that the structure of power in Moscow has remained fundamentally unchanged, although it is possible that Medvedev will walk the path of cautious liberal reforms.The next few years will see, in any case, further efforts to fully exploit the instrument of energy resources and currency reserves at the country’s disposal.
The main cause behind Italy’s blocked growth is the Italians’ approach to asset management: they tend to hold tight to their patrimony and not help wealth circulate. How to overcome this obstacle? A bipartisan approach would help, but it might not be enough. Today, after all, both protectionist and liberal tendencies coexist – concentrating solely on opening up markets seems to be a thing of the past, yet pure protectionism would only make changing the system more difficult.
Debate at this roundtable touched on the complex relationship that persists between the media and the business community. Participants noted that information should not be considered a necessary evil, but rather a meter by which to judge a democracy – a country’s freedom is evident in its journalism. A lack of information, of course, is detrimental to the workings of a democracy. Silence or tardiness in getting out the news represents a clear case of market abuse. As happened in the US, with the subprime catastrophe, financial markets also depend on the news.
The debate on Federalism touches a central theme of the possible reforms in the coming years. In a framework that is gradually being consolidated – as seen in the results of the survey conducted by the Constitutional Affairs Commission of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate at the beginning of the XV legislature – we can get a fairly accurate perspective on the goals and policies that will finally allow full implementation of the Republic’s new institutional organization and any corrections needed for the constitutional revision of 2001.
Western businesses are increasingly focused on social responsibility, making a point of thinking not just of profits but of the environment and workplace safety, for example. It is not just a matter of “doing good”: today, the market demands such attention. The consumer is aware, and a company’s social responsibility is a meter by which it is judged – turning good works into a clear marketing tool. Social responsibility represents value added, and is considered part and parcel of a given organization.
Discussion focussed on the strategic role played by bank foundations, especially following the Constitutional Court’s 2003 ruling that they are specifically involved in guaranteeing social liberties. Foundations have a mission to guarantee horizontal subsidiarity and, therefore, support the country’s intermediaries (from the private sector to the state), today charged with maintaining development strategies and social cohesion. The 88 bank foundations currently existing in Italy have a patrimony of 47 billion euro; between 1993 and 2006 that sum grew at an annual average of 5.7%.
The 2007 edition of the Aspen European Dialogue the conference focused on several crucial elements of the European debate, in both political and economic terms. Adjusting to globalization is a must if the European project is to be relaunched: in this process, new domestic challenges such as the EU’s internal security and a new social compact are intertwined with the future of the euro as well as external issues such as global trade imbalances. Key institutional reforms are also indispensable, whether or not in the form of a Constitutional text.
Discussion opened with an evaluation of the historic Marshall Plan: its origins, the postwar conditions behind its development, the underlying philosophy of US aid to Europe, the inevitable political and security implications that led to a strong reaction from the USSR. Much was said about the farsighted, multilateral approach taken by the United States at that time, despite its obvious military and economic superiority. American awareness that a complex and flexible international economic system could only be based on cooperation as well as competition was also crucial.
The roundtable represented a unique opportunity to reflect upon relations between the West and Islam. Since September 11, 2001, it has been clear that this relationship represents one of the world’s key problems. Nor can the relationship be dealt with in the manner of “normal” international relations: they involve broad, complicated meanings and many different dimensions. In other words, even if the word “clash” is too strong, there is undoubtedly an ongoing comparison, discussion and study between the two cultural approaches.
The underlying premise of the Conference discussions was that the future and competitiveness of Italy depend on the further development of the country’s research sphere and on the productivity of its university system. Greater investment is thus needed, as are, above all, new rules and new organizational models which ensure a leading European role for the country in sectors where Italy already holds a strong position and which enable it to face the challenges posed by the United States, China and India.
On the stage of the Regio Theater in Parma, the Friends of Aspen met for their twelfth annual conference. Debate focused on the role of the individual in the world’s advanced capitalist societies: how the rules of global competition have changed, how the current economic value system affects immaterial goods and creativity, whether the “person” remains key in economic development, innovation and competition. Participants stressed the need to define new roles and clear and transparent principles with which to manage the individual’s role today, with an accent on freedom and responsibility.
The forum “Italy’s patrimony: value added in global competition” was part of the Institute’s National Interest project, which has posted a rich selection of documents in Italian and in English on this website in an ongoing discussion of the value of identity, culture, language and skills in this country. In order to better meet the challenges posed by current globalization trends, the forum highlighted the need for Italy to bet on its rich heritage. The Italian language, in particular, has a long and important history, and represent many of the roots of Western civilization.
The conference “Constructing the Euro-Mediterranean Space: where are we headed?” dealt with the political, economic and technological divide that currently persists between the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean, and the effect these gaps will have once the region becomes a “free trade area”, in 2010. Much of the discussion was dedicated to consideration of the Mediterranean Union (MU), a “variable geometry” organism to be launched in June 2008 and which should breathe new life into Euro-Mediterranean cooperation.
The Conference described and analyzed proposals for generational turnover in Italy and Europe. Participants focused on fostering merit in the areas of economics, politics and academia. Regarding generational turnover, proposals included lowering the active and passive voting age in the Senate, and limiting the number of terms in office they may seek (as with mayors in Italy).
The discussion highlighted the speed at which China’s role as a world power is evolving: its influence is growing visibly, although in the presence of undeniable macroeconomic imbalances (internal and external) that are of serious concern for the future.\r\nFrom a strictly economic point of view, a change of perspective is underway, from the prominence of export to investment and partnership – a development fostered by the sizeable liquid assets available to Chinese operators.
The debate focused on the ideal approach for providing Italy’s managers with a training process that encourages personal maturity, pushing students to abandon an enduring adolescent phase. In an era of exponential fragmentation of knowledge, the leaders of the future will need new methodologies for understanding, and a solid sense of the necessity of continuing education. First, we need to recover the virtuous cycle of training-transmission-training and make the principle of “returning to school” part of our mindset.
