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  • Milan
    • 8 June 2015
     
     

    From obstacle to opportunity: how European institutions can help businesses and improve the job market

      We need a new way of narrating Europe. We need it above all to counter the populist drift that has made anti-Europeanism its motto.  Data provided by the Eurobarometer, the instrument measuring the belief of European citizens in the idea of Europe, shows that the vision of the founding fathers is in free fall. In 2008, 75% of Italian citizens were strongly convinced that the European project was a good thing, while today there is a risk that this percentage will drop below 50%.

    • Rome
      • 18 March 2015
       
       

      Innovation and market trends in a knowledge society

        Internet, an ongoing revolution. With its many regulatory questions still unanswered (from fiscal to privacy, from copyright to net-neutrality), the call to change business models are of an economic order. For some, it’s the era of the fifth technological revolution which won’t only effect how industry is run, but also how States are run. With this in mind, it could also become a unique opportunity to win decisive battles for the planet such as pollution and poverty.

      • Milan
        • 14 June 2015
         
         

        A positive economy: shaping the future

          Discussions at this year’s Annual Conference for the Friends of Aspen centered on the long-term economic priority of sustainable development for future generations, viewed as an important strategic objective at the macro level for individual national economies, and at the micro level for companies and other market players. It was noted that various competing economic models aimed at achieving this goal are emerging, including the sharing economy, the civil economy, and the positive economy.

        • Milan
          • 7 April 2014
           
           

          Efficiency and sustainable development: challenges for business and government

            Discussions at this National Interest event were kicked off with the observation that Italy needs a more systemic and cross-cutting culture of sustainability and efficiency: the former in order to build a green society, and the latter to achieve improved energy efficiency and a more prudent use of natural resources. To that end, it was deemed essential that a strategic plan be devised which takes the Italian public duly into account, with efforts made to raise wider awareness particularly with respect to energy costs.

          • Rome
            • 29 January 2013
             
             

            Italy’s tax police and financial markets. Preventing crimes to ensure economic stability

              This Aspen Junior Fellows meeting and debate session got underway with the observation that the importance of protecting the public economic order is underlined by the challenges currently faced by Italy in the public finance arena, which have impacted on the country’s development and its citizens’ standard of living. It was stressed that, in a modern economy, the value of lawfulness needs to be affirmed through regulatory certainty and high-quality rules, backed up by effective enforcement mechanisms.

            • Vicenza
              • 29 September 2013
               
               

              Family business as an engine for responsible growth

                The resilience of family businesses, still accounting for over 60% of Italy’s medium-sized and large firms, has been reaffirmed throughout the crisis. However, the protracted recessionary environment and credit crunch, in conjunction with ongoing succession processes, is forcing many of them to fundamentally rethink their business models, financial and ownership structures in order to return to a growth path – or otherwise succumb to the fierce global competition.

              • Rome
                • 23 October 2013
                 
                 

                Charity and the global economy: in search of a new model

                  Discussions at this national roundtable session got underway with the opening premise that the economic crisis and its social consequences have profoundly called into question the prevailing economic paradigm – a model based on competitive individualism, maximizing the profit of the individual, and an “invisible hand” regulating the market. The result is that the idea of the common interest merely being the sum of individual interests no longer seems sustainable in the current economic and social climate.

                • Milan
                  • 24 October 2013
                   
                   

                  The future of capitalism in Italy: the role of youth in a more competitive world

                    Opening discussions at this Aspen Junior Fellows event was the observation that the increase in the speed of progression of events and the shift towards a multipolar and networked world have led to a transformation in capitalism, with the advent of techno-finance representing one of the most obvious low points of this phenomenon.

                  • Milan
                    • 4 November 2013
                     
                     

                    Does Italy’s important industrial sector still have a future?

                      Participants at this roundtable session were of a consensus that Italy still has an effective industrial system, and may continue to do so as long as a major restructure is undertaken so as to provide a boost for a great swathe of firms that are currently wavering between the boon of opportunities offered by global growth and the risk of being marginalized.

                    • 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.

                      • Florence
                        • 18 November 2011
                         
                         

                        Italy in 10 years’ time: from crisis to growth

                          This seminar in the latest ASL series got underway with the observation that the way the current crisis has evolved confirms the necessity of moving beyond ex-post and localized solutions that deal with emergencies country-by-country and as and when they arise. The participants pointed instead to the need for a comprehensive strategy, based on three pillars. The first of these is the adoption of deficit-reduction programs at the national level. The second is the creation of common funds and institutions with more resources and more effective governance.

                        • Rome
                          • 23 February 2011
                           
                           

                          The bull commodity markets return

                            During this roundtable session, a number of factors were identified as contributing to the volatility in energy, agricultural commodity and food prices, including: the significant increase in demand from the major emerging countries, speculation in derivatives markets (and, more generally, the growing importance of the financial – as opposed to the real – economy), the management of energy production by many governments according to political criteria, and the increasing correlation between the (historically high) volatility of oil prices and that of other commodity prices.

                          • Milan
                            • 16 March 2009
                             
                             

                            Low cost – high value: a new business model

                              Discussion at this roundtable event got underway with the participants citing recent figures indicating that 70% of Italians anticipate they will have to cut down on spending in 2009. The figure was 21% in 2001, 29% in 2002 and 42% in 2004. At a time of international crisis, this growing trend is forcing businesses to rethink their business models.

                            • Venice
                              • 22 May 2009
                               
                               

                              New roles for the public and private sectors in the economy and society

                                In response to the crisis, the State has intervened to rescue banks and financial institutions, to restore confidence in the market, and to guarantee loans and transactions. Within the space of a few weeks, the State in many countries has become the largest shareholder in major banks and insurance companies, resuming the role it had abandoned during the protracted era of privatizations.

                              • Venice
                                • 22 May 2009
                                 
                                 

                                New consumer models and new lifestyles in times of crisis. Risks and opportunities for businesses

                                  “This plague has been a great scourge, but it has also served as a good broom, for it has swept away some, my children, from whom I never thought we would free ourselves… If things always worked out this way with the plague, it would really be a sin to speak ill of it”. It was in these words that the character of Don Abbondio, in Manzoni’s The Betrothed, described the epidemic that had brought about the demise of Don Rodrigo.

                                • 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.