Managerial Insights
Italy stands tall
On March 7, there were 31,506 cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) recorded in Italy, following an exponential growth curve. The number of dead is 2,503, with a lethality rate of 7.9 percent. The epidemic is principally affecting Lombardy and the rest of Northern Italy, but there are hotspots present in all regions of the country. This is the worst health catastrophe ever recorded in the history of Italy and of advanced countries since World War II, with dramatic consequences for the social and economic situation as well. In this phase, the fight against the epidemic is playing out on two fundamental ...
Coronavirus and Central Banks: Two False Steps
Modern monetary policy is based on facts and words. In dealing with the emergence of the macroeconomic risk of the coronavirus the Fed has gotten the facts wrong, while the ECB has gotten the words wrong. Let us see why. In general terms, the coronavirus belongs to the macroeconomic family of rare events. As such, its effects on the dynamics of the choices of families, businesses, and financial markets can be both significant and at the same time unpredictable, both in terms of extent and duration. So the coronavirus is a catalyst for uncertainty, that places every central bank in front of a temporal ...
Coronavirus and Central Banks: Two False Steps
Modern monetary policy is based on facts and words. In dealing with the emergence of the macroeconomic risk of the coronavirus the Fed has gotten the facts wrong, while the ECB has gotten the words wrong. Let us see why. In general terms, the coronavirus belongs to the macroeconomic family of rare events. As such, its effects on the dynamics of the choices of families, businesses, and financial markets can be both significant and at the same time unpredictable, both in terms of extent and duration. So the coronavirus is a catalyst for uncertainty, that places every central bank in front of a temporal ...
Post-Brexit Negotiations: It’s Time to be Pragmatic
In the first week of March, the negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom began on future relations after Brexit. To begin to understand how things will develop, it’s useful to define the situation, rapidly reviewing the fundamental steps taken recently on both sides of the Channel. Almost four years after the British referendum on Brexit, on January 31, 2020, the United Kingdom left the European Union - and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). The method of withdrawal is governed by the “Withdrawal Agreement,” that regulates the credit and debit relationships ...
Value Creation in Asset/Wealth Management
In the 1960s, some thought that corporate social responsibility meant making a profit. This is a strong idea, with important implications. If a company must make profits, then it becomes easier to give a straightforward evaluation of the implications of possible decisions, and to choose the ones that allow for increasing earnings with the least possible risk. Gordon Gekko is the best representative of this school of thinking, and the film Wall Street an excellent vehicle for understanding the implications of this approach. Sixty years later, has the world really changed? Or as the Eagles sang ...
Italian Businesses Exposed to Contagion
The Covid-19 coronavirus will have a negative impact on Italian businesses. The question is not “if,” but how many will be affected and how strong the impact will be. Just as predictions regarding the evolution of the situation among people are uncertain, the same is true for businesses. Yet there are some differences between the two populations, that of the human race and that of businesses. In the first case (which includes people with clear symptoms, hospitalized, in intensive care, and dead) the contagion fortunately represents a small percentage, while in the second the “contagion” ...
Italian Businesses Exposed to Contagion
The Covid-19 coronavirus will have a negative impact on Italian businesses. The question is not “if,” but how many will be affected and how strong the impact will be. Just as predictions regarding the evolution of the situation among people are uncertain, the same is true for businesses. Yet there are some differences between the two populations, that of the human race and that of businesses. In the first case (which includes people with clear symptoms, hospitalized, in intensive care, and dead) the contagion fortunately represents a small percentage, while in the second the “contagion” ...
Culture at the Time of the Coronavirus
Among the measures taken in recent days by the authorities in charge of dealing with COVID-19 is the decision to suspend not only educational activities in schools and universities, public meetings and events, but also the activity of museums, cinemas, theaters, and other cultural locations. And also to keep religious ceremonies to a minimum. It is evident that this was a difficult decision, with a large individual and collective impact. It is just as evident that the economic repercussions in many sectors will be considerable, and long-lasting. The world of culture has reacted very rapidly and ...
Culture at the Time of the Coronavirus
Among the measures taken in recent days by the authorities in charge of dealing with COVID-19 is the decision to suspend not only educational activities in schools and universities, public meetings and events, but also the activity of museums, cinemas, theaters, and other cultural locations. And also to keep religious ceremonies to a minimum. It is evident that this was a difficult decision, with a large individual and collective impact. It is just as evident that the economic repercussions in many sectors will be considerable, and long-lasting. The world of culture has reacted very rapidly and ...
How Work Changes at the Time of the Coronavirus
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has two significant impacts on the organization of work. The first regards the “open space” organization of offices, where workers may or may not have fixed workstations, designed to reduce costs relating to physical spaces and to favor interaction and the exchange of information.[1] The layout of such offices also favors contagion though, and thus the proliferation of diseases. This is true for the Coronavirus, but obviously also for the normal seasonal flu. So in order to address this problem, in the immediate term companies have been forced to limit the movement ...