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Italy

  • New York
    • 10 February 2015
     
     

    Italy: we are open for business

      Firm grounds for optimism clouded by fears of old: this was the sentiment most repeated throughout the debate at the third “Italy meets the United States of America” Summit in New York, with this year’s edition entitled “Italy: we are open for business”. The event, organized by the Italian Business & Investment Initiative, Aspen Institute Italia, and the Council for Relations between Italy and the United States, was aimed at illustrating to US investors the opportunities offered by Italy for incoming and outgoing investment.

    • New York
      • 28 February 2014
       
       

      The economic future of Europe and the US, the TTIP implications and investment opportunities in Italy

        Organized in collaboration with the Italian Business & Investment Initiative, this international workshop highlighted a renewed openness towards investing in Italy precisely because it possesses – albeit frequently not well-known – assets of interest to investors. It was stressed, however, that implementing (not merely announcing or adopting) reforms, and providing certainty, consistency and a business-friendly environment, remain the real challenges to overcome, as there is fierce competition between nations to attract foreign investment.

      • Rome
        • 20 May 2015
         
         

        Markets, competition, rules: Italy, Europe, and everyone else

          Antitrust regulations take a truly dynamic approach to the issue in question.  They adapt to the continual evolution of the markets, and objectives evolve with time.  Globalization and the international crisis are both factors that have a significant effect on competition. The original inspiration behind America’s 1890 Sherman Act has more-or-less been forgotten but its objective, in fact, was to protect small businesses from “the giants”.

        • Rome
          • 18 February 2015
           
           

          Competitiveness and Italy’s job market

            Kick-starting proceedings at this national roundtable event was recognition that debate on the state of the labor market in Italy and reflection on how the country measures up with conditions and models in other countries (Germany and the Netherlands in particular) are now more than ever imperative, at a time when the jobless rate is higher than the EU average (and is, indeed, the highest for youth unemployment), and when manufacturing output and consumer prices are in decline.

          • 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
              • 19 March 2014
               
               

              Of virtue and necessity: privatization to spur growth in Italy

                Proceedings at this national roundtable got underway with participants observing that Italy periodically looks to privatization as a means to restoring the fragile fortunes of its public finances. Yet while the increasingly straitened condition of these finances is what gives rise, from time to time, to the need to engage in such sell-offs, privatization cannot and should not merely entail a quick grab for cash. Indeed, the roundtable saw a number of different aspects of privatization discussed.

              • Venice
                • 9 May 2014
                 
                 

                Development strategies for tourism

                  Debate at this ASL session focused on examining the impact in Italy of global developments in tourism, with the participants acknowledging from the outset that both quantitative and qualitative changes in the industry require the country to formulate appropriate strategies if it wishes to ensure that the sector remains a key lever of its economy.

                • Venice
                  • 9 May 2014
                   
                   

                  Governing complexity in the country system: challenges, priorities and Italy’s choices

                    The participants at this ASL seminar noted that Europe has made it past the most acute phase of the economic and financial crisis, but is still struggling to embark on a virtuous process of sweeping and sustained growth.

                    It was felt that in order to accomplish this, the Member States need to fully seize the opportunities offered by the digital revolution and confront the associated challenges and risks – including to the quality of democracy – arising from the change that this technological paradigm brings with it.

                  • Venice
                    • 9 May 2014
                     
                     

                    The Aspen Italia City of Venice Forum. Venice: a model for smart cities?

                      Proceedings at this Aspen Italia City of Venice Forum got underway with recognition by those present of the difficulty in unambiguously defining what constitutes a “smart city”. On the one hand, it can be associated with the integrated application of innovative technologies to the management of a city, and on the other, it evokes the adoption of methodologies to optimize and coordinate low-cost solutions and best practices already in use, or at least already known of.

                    • Roma
                      • 8 November 2012
                       
                       

                      Immigration and integration: challenges for the Italian society

                        Discussion at this national roundtable focusing on immigration opened with the participants citing figures showing that foreigners account for 7.5% of Italy’s population (up from 1% in 1991) and contribute over 12% of national GDP. Many migrants have chosen to settle in Italy permanently, have bought a house (20%), and have children attending Italian schools.

                      • Milan
                        • 4 June 2012
                         
                         

                        Striking a balance between a fair tax system and economic growth in Italy

                          Proceedings at this National Roundtable examining the link between fiscal equity and growth in Italy got underway with the observation that, according to the Italian Constitution, taxation, as well as enabling the delivery of services and benefits essential to the welfare and progress of citizens, should also help overcome social inequalities through the application of redistributive justice criteria. This principle of “fairness” in setting tax levels takes on an even greater significance when, as is currently happening, social and economic disparities widen.

                        • Milano
                          • 7 May 2012
                           
                           

                          Reforming welfare in Italy: public and private sectors for a new social pact

                            At this roundtable session dedicated to the subject of Italian welfare reform, it was noted that European welfare models have come under pressure from major demographic, economic and social changes, including progressively aging populations, rising expectations for healthcare, increased risks of non-self-sufficiency, sporadic employment and income, and concerns over public debt, which have conspired to make healthcare and welfare systems devised in the past gradually more unsustainable.

                          • Rome
                            • 11 July 2012
                             
                             

                            Promoting Italy’s image: focusing on strong points to improve competitiveness

                              The starting point for discussions at this national roundtable session was the observation that, in this time of crisis, revamping Italy’s image is not just a strategic priority, but also a pressing necessity. The problem was seen as originating, paradoxically, from within the country itself, with Italians engaging in some sort of exercise in self-flagellation by talking down their homeland whenever abroad.

                            • Rome
                              • 6 July 2011
                               
                               

                              The role of international businesses in Italy’s economic growth

                                This roundtable saw those in attendance debate the role that foreign-owned firms play in the Italian economy, particularly with a view to identifying approaches and measures that could enable foreign direct investment inflows to be improved.

                              • Rome
                                • 26 May 2011
                                 
                                 

                                Italy in the future tense. Values, culture, skills, competitiveness

                                  This Aspen Junior Fellow Breakfast event saw the participants make a concerted effort to examine the individual challenges facing Italy through a broader frame of reference. It was noted that the long-term inertial forecast is one of a country that is aging and characterized by increasing levels of immigration, a widening North-South divide, the persistence of a detrimental public deficit, and insufficient productivity to maintain the level of prosperity hitherto achieved. This outlook, it was observed, feeds into a longstanding rhetoric of decline and defeat that is rife in Italy.

                                • Rome
                                  • 12 October 2011
                                   
                                   

                                  Culture, politics, the economy: Italy’s national interest, from the country’s unification to the present day

                                    In the beginning, there was the catch-cry of “liberty and independence”: the Risorgimento ideal par excellence, expressing the longing of generations of those aspiring for an Italian nation, who – from the Congress of Vienna to 1861, as well as in the bellicose sequels of the following decade – devoted their thoughts and deeds and blood and hopes to the unification of Italy.

                                  • Rome
                                    • 14 September 2011
                                     
                                     

                                    Sharing our future: forging an alliance between state and market for a new social contract

                                      At this roundtable session dedicated to the future of Italy’s pension system, it was observed that population aging, the impending retirement of the baby boomer generation, the prolonged period of economic stagnation currently being experienced and dwindling public resources are driving Italy, as well as most other developed nations, to tackle questions regarding the relationship between the role of public and private social security schemes. Today, pensions, healthcare and welfare, in their various forms, are no longer being delivered solely by the state.

                                    • Milan
                                      • 28 November 2011
                                       
                                       

                                      The “green economy”: new opportunities for Italy

                                        The key objective to emerge from the discussions at this National Conference was that of transforming a constraint into an opportunity. The green economy must be made the cornerstone of a new, more sustainable and enduring development model. It was observed that, in recent years, particularly in the wake of the protracted effects of the worst economic and financial crisis in recent history, the world has begun to stop treating the “environmental factor” as a possible limitation on freedom of enterprise, but rather to see it from a more comprehensive perspective.