Draghi, the crisis in Italy and the world economy. The prof. Farese
Conversation on Draghi and its surroundings with Giovanni Farese, Professor of Economic History at the European University of Rome, Marshall Memorial Fellow of the GMF-German Marshall Fund of the United States and member of the Bretton Woods Committee.
What are the potentials and challenges for Mario Draghi at Palazzo Chigi? What dangers must he avert if he manages to form a government after the mandate received from the President of the Republic? And what are the international economic dynamics in which the former president of the ECB will move once in Palazzo Chigi?
Here is the opinion of Giovanni Farese, Professor of Economic History at the European University of Rome, Marshall Memorial Fellow of the GMF-German Marshall Fund of the United States and member of the Bretton Woods Committee.
Economic, political, health crisis. What can Draghi do?
It is a moment of great hope, to quote the key word of Draghi's short speech today. More or less a hundred years ago, a divided Parliament and a boiling society produced a very different outcome. But the republican institutions are strong. Draghi's profile naturally evokes that of Luigi Einaudi. Attention to the new generations can also mean a (Einaudian) greater "equality in the starting points". There is really the possibility, in the words of Pope Francis, "to initiate processes", and not to "occupy space". The years ahead – this decade – will be those in which we will either rebuild or slowly ruin, as has unfortunately happened in part. Today we need to reverse the course.
The horizon, however, is not free from dangers.
In August 2020 Draghi said that the three qualities indispensable to those in positions of power are knowledge, courage and humility. He has shown that he knows how to see far, that he knows how to indicate a collective goal and that he knows how to build, with innovative words and actions, the consensus necessary to reach it. Much of course will depend on the composition of the government, that is, whether it will be partly political and partly technical, or entirely technical.
What are the risks to avoid?
The danger to avert is that the parties think only of doing another "ride". It would be a bane and unpredictable outcomes. It is no coincidence that the other key word in Draghi's short speech was “unity”. With a little luck and a lot of wisdom, a new political phase can be opened.
How to place Italian events in the international scenario?
Italy is the testing ground, as in the second postwar period, of European reconstruction. The previous government risked making in vain the effort (including Mrs Merkel's) of a Europe that issues common debt, which lays the foundations for the political leap and rethinks its role in the world. China's economy will be ten percent larger in a year than it was before the pandemic. The United States have resumed their journey, even economically. Europe and Italy must restart. Draghi will undo the knot of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
What will change for Italy with Biden in the White House?
There is a happy coincidence between Biden's election and the appointment of Draghi. They have a common vision of international relations. Draghi has, in the year of the Italian G-20, the international credibility that a country with an economy open to Europe and the world vitally needs.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/draghi-la-crisi-in-italia-e-leconomia-mondiale-parla-il-prof-farese/ on Wed, 03 Feb 2021 14:50:03 +0000.