Sufficiency rather than excess
The Einaudi Centre’s 2023 essay collection provides a likely approach for global social and economic systems
Blinded by wealth, the Western social and economic systems now have to face a very different economy and prospects than those existing only a few years ago. It is something that has had a – positive or negative – impact on everyone: individuals, enterprises, institutions, social and financial organisations. It is also something that needs to be fully understood, even just to stop deluding ourselves, starting with the notion that its complexity has reached incredibly high levels. Thus, the customary collection of analyses undertaken by the Luigi Einaudi Research and Documentation Centre in Turin (supported by Intesa Sanpaolo) will prove useful to tackle such a complex issue by providing at least enough knowledge to gain an initial understanding.
Dall’illusione dell’abbondanza all’economia dell’abbastanza (From the delusion of plenty to an economy of sufficiency) – the title says it all, and the book is structured into four sections and a conclusion. Mario Deaglio curated this volume, together with a team of economists affiliated to the Einaudi Centre, and the work unravels from a number of considerations. First of all, the international trade system and global balance that existed before the 2008-2009 financial crisis is now history. Secondly, the ensuing economic, social, geopolitical, climatic crises – which we are still experiencing – have thrown us into a world we can term “post-global”, distinguished by a partial abandonment of free-market rules, incentives for companies to relocate in their countries and the need – as well as the difficulty – of turning tangible plans into “green” projects. Finally, what happened at the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war and following China-USA tension is exacerbating a situation that is already quite serious.
As such, the book begins with an analysis of the “dawn of globalisation”, before pinpointing the weaknesses of United States and Europe, and then goes on to investigate the many wars that, though under different guises, merely replicated “Cold War” dynamics. The work ends with a couple of questions: will the emerging global rift lead to a highly hostile global environment? Will it slow down structural growth or is it just a temporary glitch? True to the Einaudi Centre’s earnest approach to research, this collection does not aim to find a single answer and merely presents us with a number of scenarios pointing to a shared perspective: we should forget those happy and rather careless times when we thought we could luxuriate in easy wealth and start building – addressing environmental concerns, for a start – an “era of sufficiency” in which to live adequately well. A path that this work curated by Deaglio finds feasible and likely.
Dall’illusione dell’abbondanza all’economia dell’abbastanza (From the delusion of plenty to an economy of sufficiency)
Mario Deaglio (curated by)
Guerini e Associati, 2023
The Einaudi Centre’s 2023 essay collection provides a likely approach for global social and economic systems
Blinded by wealth, the Western social and economic systems now have to face a very different economy and prospects than those existing only a few years ago. It is something that has had a – positive or negative – impact on everyone: individuals, enterprises, institutions, social and financial organisations. It is also something that needs to be fully understood, even just to stop deluding ourselves, starting with the notion that its complexity has reached incredibly high levels. Thus, the customary collection of analyses undertaken by the Luigi Einaudi Research and Documentation Centre in Turin (supported by Intesa Sanpaolo) will prove useful to tackle such a complex issue by providing at least enough knowledge to gain an initial understanding.
Dall’illusione dell’abbondanza all’economia dell’abbastanza (From the delusion of plenty to an economy of sufficiency) – the title says it all, and the book is structured into four sections and a conclusion. Mario Deaglio curated this volume, together with a team of economists affiliated to the Einaudi Centre, and the work unravels from a number of considerations. First of all, the international trade system and global balance that existed before the 2008-2009 financial crisis is now history. Secondly, the ensuing economic, social, geopolitical, climatic crises – which we are still experiencing – have thrown us into a world we can term “post-global”, distinguished by a partial abandonment of free-market rules, incentives for companies to relocate in their countries and the need – as well as the difficulty – of turning tangible plans into “green” projects. Finally, what happened at the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war and following China-USA tension is exacerbating a situation that is already quite serious.
As such, the book begins with an analysis of the “dawn of globalisation”, before pinpointing the weaknesses of United States and Europe, and then goes on to investigate the many wars that, though under different guises, merely replicated “Cold War” dynamics. The work ends with a couple of questions: will the emerging global rift lead to a highly hostile global environment? Will it slow down structural growth or is it just a temporary glitch? True to the Einaudi Centre’s earnest approach to research, this collection does not aim to find a single answer and merely presents us with a number of scenarios pointing to a shared perspective: we should forget those happy and rather careless times when we thought we could luxuriate in easy wealth and start building – addressing environmental concerns, for a start – an “era of sufficiency” in which to live adequately well. A path that this work curated by Deaglio finds feasible and likely.
Dall’illusione dell’abbondanza all’economia dell’abbastanza (From the delusion of plenty to an economy of sufficiency)
Mario Deaglio (curated by)
Guerini e Associati, 2023