Apocalittici e impiegati
Tuesday January 29th, 2008 | 09:21 am | Uncategorized
Nowadays it’s difficult to find somebody who believes in a revolution that will put an end to the capitalistic system. However, many people think that the actual global system will collapse, because it’s not able to cope with the problems of the 21st century. This apocalyptic scenario is a nightmare and not a dream, because it would mean terrible conditions of life, much worse than today, for billions of people. But the economic, energy and environmental problems are so serious that we cannot take for granted the views of people who tell us that everything is under control. Between apocalypse and unjustified optimism, there is just a narrow road of governance and critical analysis.
Supercommissari per le tante spazzature del Sud
Tuesday January 8th, 2008 | 10:46 pm | Uncategorized
The scandal of garbage collecting in Naples shows the failure of the policies of the last decades in the South of Italy, where local politicians have received money and powers without being able to develop their territories and to defend the legal system. The South does not need only a “Supercommissioner” with special authority for the garbage of Naples: political powers should be given back to the central government in all activities infiltrated by the organized crime. But putting under tutorship the Regions of the South, while leaving autonomy to the other Regions, who have demonstrated that they can stand on their own, is impossible without a very strong political coalition.
2008: un po’ d’ottimismo, nonostante il degrado
Monday December 31st, 2007 | 12:17 pm | Uncategorized
A few thoughts at the end of the year after some optimistic (and surprising, for some people) articles by il Sole 24 Ore. Italy is condemned to an inevitable decay? No. It’s true that the country is losing ground (even if politicians often deny it), but I am with the people who think that we can still invert the trend. To do it we need some faith in our possibilities, a change of the political system, but also the willingness to modify some of our personal attitudes versus the public good.
Womenomics, le donne al centro dell’economia
Sunday December 23rd, 2007 | 09:49 am | Uncategorized
“Women are now the most powerful engine of global growth”, says The Economist. Womenomics are getting more and more important, and Italy is among the European countries where the female employment rate is lower. I had the occasion to work on this topic with a group who has been in charge of preparing the official “Nota Aggiuntiva” on “women, innovation and development”. This document is a specific annex which Minister Emma Bonino this year attached to the Lisbona Report presented to the European Commission, in order to underline the need of a “faster pace” in fostering the quantity and quality of women’s employment. After this interesting experience I wrote an essay in Italian and English for East, Europe and Asia Strategies.
Riflessioni ferroviarie, dopo l’articolo del NYT
Saturday December 15th, 2007 | 08:08 pm | Uncategorized
“Italy is in a funk”, wrote the New York Times. In my opinion, something worse is happening, because Italians do not believe any more that the political class, any political class, will be able to solve their problems. Even the small ones, like the dirty toilets in the trains. Incompetence, unefficient or corrupted administration, but also bad behaviour by some citizens combine in a tangle very difficult to solve.
Bilal, che fare contro l’immigrazione clandestina?
Sunday December 2nd, 2007 | 11:59 pm | Uncategorized
“Bilal“, written by the Italian journalist Fabrizio Gatti, is the story of the people who through the Sahara try to come to Europe as illegal immigrants. You cannot read this book without asking yourself what to do against this terrible exploitation of people who are the best among the young generation of their countries. Illegal immigration has to be stopped, and information campaigns are important, specially if organized in the countries from where the migrants start. But we have to find ways to help families and young people to organize a decent living in their local communities.
La grande sfida della governance mondiale
Friday November 16th, 2007 | 06:50 pm | Uncategorized
We will not have a world government in the near future, but we can’t survive without a global governance: these are my conclusions after having been in charge of the journalists’ desk of the World Energy Congress, going through all the speeches and debates to produce with my team a hundred of press releases. We need global governance for a secure flow of oil, gas and electricity between different countries, for reducing the international speculation on energy prices, for the use of nuclear energy, for drafting a post Kyoto agreement acceptable to all and really useful for curbing the CO2 emissions, for all the consequences of the climate change. We need leaders with vision and courage and a great pressure from public opinion.
Viva la democrazia! Sì, ma quale?
Sunday November 11th, 2007 | 10:18 am | Uncategorized
How do we imagine democracy in the 21st century? I don’t think that the system of electing political representatives for four or five years, as envisaged two hundred years ago, is still satisfactory for the citizens of modern states. On the other hand the forms of direct participation, now technically possible through the Net, are very dangerous because the majority is uninformed and tends to decide without considering all the aspects of each issue. Other systems are under trial: “democracy by ballot” (a group of citizens is chosen to get informed and decide on each issue), “democracy by media”, mobilizing people through television or internet, or “primary voting” on very general issues, just to confirm a ruling class that has already been selected. Each system has its own defects. Probably the only possible, even if partial, answer is democracy through the multiplication of local initiatives offering to the citizens a place to debate, as once it happened in the party meetings. It’s a process just starting in Italy, but the demand for participation is high.
Come nasce la statistica del 21° secolo
Saturday October 20th, 2007 | 06:09 pm | Future, Globalizzazione, Statistica
The bi-monthly magazine East, Europe and Asia STrategies published my article in Italian and English about the Istanbul Conference on “Measuring and Fostering the Progress of Societies” which took place in June. Shall we see The Gross National Happiness replace the Gross Domestic Product as main indicator of the well being of a country, as in Buthan? I don’t think so. But from this field of research we can expect to witness the birth of the new statistical system of the 21st century ond of new world goals which will replace the Millennium Development Goals (Mdg).
Primarie. Mi spiegate per che cosa si vota?
Thursday October 11th, 2007 | 07:52 am | Uncategorized
What are we supposed to vote for, in the primary elections of the new Partito democratico? If the event is just the choice of the internal structure and of its leader, I will not vote because I do not belong to this Party; and in any case, if I decided to vote, I would choose Enrico Letta, the most courageous in renovating the programs of the Party. On the other hand, if the electors are called to choose the future candidate of the Centre Left coalition, somebody who might have a chance to beat Silvio Berlusconi, then I will think that going to the polls is my right and my duty; but in that case the only realistic choice would be to vote for Walter Veltroni.
