Today's advanced countries, including Italy, were able to produce a revolution in industry, and then in services, thanks to entrepreneurship favored by the active role of the state and public institutions. In the first two decades after the Second World War, there was maximum exploitation of the impetus generated previously by public institutions. The active role of IRI, the special interventions in Italy's South, the specialized financial institutions, and the participation in the process of European integration allowed for hitching the country to the international train that was passing by, with results so positive as to lead to the coining of the well-known expression "economic miracle." To revive our country now, it is indispensible for the state to rediscover its leading role, working with civil society to trace out the long-term direction of projects to be pursued.