Archive
Bank and Country, the Two Faces of Financial Nationalism
In the months that have just passed, in advanced countries the banks have been the chain of transmission of urgent policy interventions, designed by governments to sustain the aggregate demand for goods and services. Time will tell us what strategy is most effective. Let’s look ahead, though. To do so, like Giano, we will concentrate on what happened in Italy before the pandemic recession began. In at least two cases - that of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and that of the Banca Popolare di Bari - the Italian political class has been faced with a question that will certainly arise again ...
The Importance of Big Data for Real Estate
In addition to the loss of numerous human lives, the COVID-19 pandemic is causing significant economic harm to our country. An additional aspect, which is just as important, though less discussed, regards the role of data. It is sometimes said that data is the "new oil," to reference the potential wealth linked to the creation and use of sources of reliable data. This is not really a new discovery: still today history books speak of how the great civilizations of the past, from the Egyptians to the Assyrians, distinguished themselves precisely for the systematic collection of empirical evidence ...
Beijing’s Iron Fist
With a minute of silence and two months late, the lianghui began, literally the “two sessions.” This is the most important political appointment in the People’s Republic of China: almost five thousand government representatives arrive from all over China to “discuss” and ratify the budget and laws for the next year. The assembly takes place every March, but was postponed this year due to the pandemic. The members of the National People’s Congress, the body that comes closest to our Parliament, are all wearing masks. Only those in the first row have their faces uncovered. That is where ...
Per Aspera ad Astra: Italy And Covid-19
The current crisis is an unprecedented global challenge in terms of its health, economic, social, and geopolitical impact. As we write, more than 4 billion people in over 100 countries are still living in some sort of lockdown. Each country has chosen its own strategy, adopting a variety of measures in an attempt to fight an unparalleled menace. Political decisions regarding population containment and border closures undeniably play an important role in the match against this epidemic. Specific features of different healthcare systems appear to greatly impact each country’s capacity to face ...
Per aspera ad astra: l’Italia e il Covid-19
The current crisis is an unprecedented global challenge in terms of its health, economic, social, and geopolitical impact. As we write, more than 4 billion people in over 100 countries are still living in some sort of lockdown. Each country has chosen its own strategy, adopting a variety of measures in an attempt to fight an unparalleled menace. Political decisions regarding population containment and border closures undeniably play an important role in the match against this epidemic. Specific features of different healthcare systems appear to greatly impact each country’s capacity to face ...
From Sustainable Digital Technologies to CDR
The importance of sustainability has received increasing attention in recent years. The international debate on this issue (environment, shipping, food, the wellbeing of human beings and animals, energy consumption, the waste of food and resources in general, and so on) has inevitably regarded the ICT/digital sector as well. Years ago, there was talk of "green ICT" with particular reference to the energy consumption and CO2 production by ICT systems, especially of large computing centers of public and private companies and large multinational corporations. To give just a few examples, various ...
European Aid to Businesses: an Overview
The health crisis is now being followed by the economic crisis. In its April outlook the International Monetary Fund forecasts a 9.1 percent drop in Italian GDP for 2020, followed by +4.8 percent growth in 2021. The recently approved DEF foresees a drop of 8 percent, followed by 4.7 growth in 2021. Apart from forecasts - whose reliability is relative, since it is still not possible to fully assess not only the economic consequences, but also the real prospects for recovery, that will inevitably be conditioned by the course of the epidemic - it is clear that the coming months will be very complicated, ...
European Aid to Businesses: an Overview
The health crisis is now being followed by the economic crisis. In its April outlook the International Monetary Fund forecasts a 9.1 percent drop in Italian GDP for 2020, followed by +4.8 percent growth in 2021. The recently approved DEF foresees a drop of 8 percent, followed by 4.7 growth in 2021. Apart from forecasts - whose reliability is relative, since it is still not possible to fully assess not only the economic consequences, but also the real prospects for recovery, that will inevitably be conditioned by the course of the epidemic - it is clear that the coming months will be very complicated, ...
The Future of Our Banking System
The health side of the coronavirus drama seems to be moving towards a solution, although the timeframe is still not certain and great prudence is required, as the authorities continue to remind us. The economic and financial drama of the pandemic, on the other hand, has still not reached its peak, and no forecasts are possible on what will happen in the second half of 2020, or even in the next two years. Despite the reopening of numerous businesses whose activities were suspended for many weeks, the economy is still suffering from the consequences of this stoppage and all of the effects it will ...
We Are Not All in the Same Boat
The COVID-19 pandemic is hitting the economies of every country in the world harshly, provoking an unprecedented employment emergency in many of them. An emblematic case, due to the importance of the country and the speed of the effects, is that of the United States. Before the pandemic, the US economy was on a solid track, with an unemployment rate that had reached a historic low of 3.5 percent in February, when China had already stopped. In March, when Europeans began to hole up at home, the US employment rate had risen to a moderate 4.4 percent. Just one month later, the data for April (the ...