Is the individual the key to development?

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 social analysis was launched with a discussion of politics, but which passed through labor considerations, and ended with a judgments on ethics in the business and financial worlds. General agreement was reached on the importance of respect for laws – a guarantee for the individual citizen. The meeting, as usual, also offered the opportunity to present new members to the group and to illustrate past, present and future Aspen activities to all those present.