Demographic challenges: jobs and welfare
Italy’s demographic decline, while consistent with the trends of the principal advanced economies – described and analyzed in the latest issue of Aspenia – is (…)Demographic challenges: jobs and welfare
The future of the West in a fragmented world
Contemplation of the future of the West becomes especially vital for a fragmented world in the throes of rising geopolitical tension. The situation’s foremost victim is globalization, which for thirty-odd years seemed to have arrested history but whose dynamics have come forcefully back to center stage.
The causes and consequences of inflation
The data of the past 12 months speak loud and clear: inflation is back. After thirty years of relative price stability, 2022 will be remembered (…)The causes and consequences of inflation
Rethinking EU competitiveness in the changing geopolitical world
The discussion underway on European economic governance reform is part of a substantially uncertain and volatile macro-financial picture. The principal risks include stagflation, financial fragmentation, competitiveness problems (in light of the American Inflation Reduction Act) and the twin (digital and sustainable) transitions.
The start-up ecosystem: strategies for innovation, competitiveness and growth
Although far from the levels of other advanced economies, Italy’s start-up ecosystem has made considerable strides over recent years. Italy now has an opportunity to press forward and to make up for delays in the generation of innovative enterprises.
Digital finance: challenges and opportunities
Over recent years, new technological instruments have accelerated the digitalization of finance, radically changing the user experience and shaking the historic foundations of sector institutions. From the exponential growth of FinTech to the advent of digital currencies to the new frontier of the metaverse, the transformations have been far-reaching.
Corporate finance. The geopolitics of currencies and crypto-currency development
The dollar remains strong and, despite a few crises, is still the world’s preeminent reserve currency. The euro, on the other hand – although it does represent a solid and advanced economy – has not managed to become a reserve currency capable of replacing the dollar.
The Future of Currencies
The international financial system is in the throes of deep change as a result of the war in Ukraine – and not only. Upheaval is destined to continue. The dollar, reserve currency par excellence, will gain strength, while the euro, despite its aspirations to become the second global reserve currency, still has a long road ahead of it; and the difficult international situation will only contribute to widening the divide between the two.
Aspenia 96: Presentation – Monete e potere
Rome, 18 March 2022 –To tie in with the publication of Aspenia 96 (in Italian), Aspen Institute Italia will be holding an Aspenia Talk on “The future of currency” in digital mode at 18:00 on 23 March. The panel will be held on the Zoom platform and will be open to the press.
Investing in Italy: New Prospects and Old Stumbling Blocks
Rome, 19 November 2021 – Aspen Institute Italia, in partnership with British American Tobacco Italia, will be holding an Aspenia Talk on “The future of foreign investments in Italy and in Europe” in digital mode at 18:00 on 23 November.
US economic recovery, a long way to go
Erik Jones
Director of European and Eurasian Studies; Professor of European Studies and International Political Economy, Johns Hopkins University
evento correlato: Assessing risk: intersection of global economy and geopolitics
The future of foreign investment in Italy and Europe
Country system appeal has always been an issue for Italy, the recipient of between 2% and 3% of all direct foreign investments in Europe and the twelfth-ranked nation on the continent. The difficulty in attracting investments is paramount among the concerns to be addressed in ensuring support for and the development of the country’s fabric of small and medium-sized enterprises. Yet, the country presents a marked dualism, not only between north and south, but also between levels of competitiveness and productivity.
Re-shaping finance: the challenges ahead
The world of finance, with its products and markets, is undergoing a deep transformation. Indeed, from the standpoint of technology, the instruments made available to operators over the past 10 years have revolutionized the sector.
Post pandemic Italy’s banking sector: new challenges, new opportunities for the real economy
As it leaves the health emergency behind, Italy is focusing on economic recovery. The European resources of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan offer major opportunities in a shifting scenario. On the one hand, the crisis was not the result of structural problems, but rather due to a situation created by the pandemic; this means that, despite the difficulties of this forced arrest, reviving the economic machine should not be too problematic. On the other hand, however, these long months of inactivity have compromised the financial situation of many firms.
Recovery and Resilience Facility and “Eurobond”: what news for the EU?
The bulk of the Recovery Plan’s massive investments are in the form of the Eurobonds with which the European Union plans to stimulate the continent’s post-pandemic economy. Nevertheless, their introduction – a proposal dating back to the late 1980s aimed at encouraging investments and infrastructure – could represent a veritable paradigm shift in EU policy. Fostering that, in the first place, would be the continent’s strategic autonomy in a range of sectors currently in need of a common vision with regard to protection and enhancement.
The Biden Administration and the Future of America
President Biden’s inauguration comes at a moment of serious division in the United States. Urgent domestic issues and a shifting international context have created some major challenges for the American leadership. Although he may be eager to put the “Trump factor” behind him with a long series of executive orders right from the start, the new president must also lay out a broader strategy.
For a sustainable and responsible economy: the role of finance
Sustainability has been a concern in the financial world for some time now, with steady and significant growth over recent years in investments centered on ESG (environment, sustainability and governance) criteria. Far from slowing that trend, the Corona virus epidemic is proving an accelerator, with investors seizing on the opportunities associated with a “green” recovery and reconstruction.
Financing the recovery. Europe, Germany, Italy
The main thread of the meeting could be summarized in this initial question: How can political relations between two culturally similar countries like Italy and Germany be so fragile and apparently unstable despite the solid trade relationship they enjoy? The parameters of the search for an answer were broad and deep, proof of the historic breadth of an Italo-German relationship dating back to the Renaissance and marked today by the shared values and principles of the European Union.
The future of the European economy: the new Commission’s choices
The European Union is confronting a series of long-term structural challenges that, nevertheless, require the immediate implementation of high impact, broad-spectrum policies. An initial issue is climate change, naturally a planet-wide concern for which Europe has already set goals, such as carbon neutrality within 2050 (which will obviously have direct effects on the energy sector).
Open innovation: financial technology, banking, business
Banking is one of the sectors most exposed to the digital revolution. The major changes introduced by new technologies and the various actors that have debuted on the credit market are causing traditional operators to wonder about their future. The timid attempts at innovation undertaken to date by Italian banks do not appear sufficient to ensure their competitiveness in a scenario that is seeing sources of short and medium term returns shrinking.