Right from the outset, Pirelli’s focus on the wellbeing of its employees extended to their families as well. The first funds for kindergartens were already being granted in the late nineteenth century for the children of employees and in 1931 an internal nursery school and after-school facility was set up in the fifteenth-century Bicocca degli Arcimboldi, at the very heart of the Pirelli Headquarters. In 1955, when the villa became the company’s official reception venue, a new kindergarten was opened. It was built by the municipality with a fundamental contribution from Pirelli, and it was open not only to the children of employees but to all the children in the Bicocca district. Known as the Maria Pirelli kindergarten, it could take in 210 children, of whom 130 were the children of “Pirelliani”. New modern premises were also set up as an after-school centre, in a building that was opened in 1956, taking in 100 children in two shifts, with three classrooms, a refectory, an atrium for recreation, a garden and a small sports field. Scholarships were awarded for older students through the Fondazione Giovan Battista Pirelli, which was established in 1932, and the Fondazione Piero e Alberto Pirelli, which started up in 1947.

Camps were put on for the summer holidays, with the assistance of external organisations – as was the case with the camp in the Alpine village of Piambello (Varese), run by the Touring Club Italiano – or at Pirelli’s own facilities: the heliotherapy colony on Lake Vimodrone, built in 1939, and the seaside colony in Pietraligure, which started up in 1947, with room for more than 300 children.

Family support also included care for the elderly: in 1947 the Fondazione Piero e Alberto Pirelli purchased the Villa Porro Lambertenghi in Induno Olona, in the province of Varese, and converted it into a retirement home with the aim of “offering the company’s elderly workers a surety against loneliness and economic hardship”.

Family support continues to this day with reserved places and discounts at the Bambini Bicocca nursery school, scholarships, contributions towards the purchase of school books and summer camps and study holidays, both in Italy and abroad. But there is also a support service for caregiver employees who assist a family member or relative who is not self-sufficient.

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The welfare programmes were reorganised In the 1920s, with the creation of the Pirelli Dopolavoro, the working men’s club, which put on a whole range of services that would meet all the needs of the Pirelli community. It was this that led to cultural and sporting activities being introduced for leisure time. The Pirelli Sports Group included football, tennis, basketball, fencing, athletics, bowls, skiing and mountaineering, and bicycle and motorcycle touring sections.

The activities were practiced in the sports fields and facilities in front of the Bicocca plants and in other facilities. The Pirelli Sports Group expanded over the years, increasing the number of sports it offered and in the 1970s it ended up being divided into 18 sections with over 2,500 members. Athletes competed in group championships and in regional and national competitions, achieving significant results, and it also boasted an Olympic champion among its ranks: Adolfo Consolini, a gold medallist in the discus throw at the 1948 Olympics. One of the activities that today reflect the legacy of the historic Pirelli Sports Group is the opportunity that employees have of joining the company football team, with the chance to get involved and team up with their colleagues. In the field of culture, the Dopolavoro gave members the opportunity to participate in conferences, plays and concerts, and it had a lending library that opened in 1927. By 1933, six years later, it had about 1,400 books that could be lent out.

It was after the war, however, that cultural activities really took off, with the creation of the Pirelli Cultural Centre. This became one of the liveliest centres of culture in Milan, putting on events in every area of the arts – from music to cinema, to theatre and the figurative arts and literature – as well as some of the most advanced debates of those years. Exhibitions, book and film presentations, and conferences attracted the greatest exponents of Italian and international culture – with such big names as John Cage, Italo Calvino, Umberto Eco, Milan Kundera, Eugenio Montale, Salvatore Quasimodo, and Cesare Zavattini – and in 1960 they began to be held in the 600-seat auditorium of the Pirelli Tower. The cultural activities currently offered to the community of employees are also the outcome of partnerships with leading Milanese cultural institutes. These include the Piccolo Teatro, the Teatro Franco Parenti, and FAI, and they are run by the Pirelli Foundation, with the management of the company libraries – at the Headquarters in Bicocca and at the Bollate factory (together with the library at the Settimo Torinese Industrial Centre). The Foundation also puts on events to promote reading, such as its collaboration with the Premio Campiello Junior, and to promote the company’s historical heritage and to make known Pirelli’s corporate culture. Since 2008, the Foundation has looked after and worked hard to promote the company’s historical archive through publications, exhibitions and educational programmes.

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Pirelli also prides itself on its long tradition of training its employees. Paying tribute to Piero Pirelli, who had passed away shortly before, a number of scholarships were instituted in 1956 for employees wishing to study at university or to complete their children’s higher or university education. In late 1957, a project was launched to create an institute – also named after Piero Pirelli, who had worked hard to provide welfare and training activities – for training the children of employees who had just joined the company, with the aim of teaching them about the growing mechanisation of the industry. Designed by the architect Roberto Menghi, the institute is located in Viale Fulvio Testi, opposite the Pro Patria sports fields. It was opened in October 1958 with classrooms for theoretical lessons (mathematics, mechanics, physics, rubber and plastics technology, electrical engineering, and economics), a workshop for practical lessons, a physics laboratory, a canteen, a library, and a number of offices. Over the years, the Institute expanded its activities to include the training of front-line managers and executives in the field of industrial management and, in particular, in automation and innovation. Since the 1970s, the Institute has also been providing training for the staff of other Lombard companies which do not have their own dedicated facilities.

These include such companies as Marelli, Autobianchi, Philips, and Same. In 1971, a training section was set up within the Pirelli company organisation, which began publishing a series of books for the continuous training of executives. 79 issues were published, at various periodic intervals, until 1996. These booklets, which are now preserved by the Historical Archive of the Pirelli Foundation, deal with topics such as safety in the workplace, industrial relations, quality control, personnel management, finance and corporate organisation, computerisation, and sustainability, and they were written by leading names in the fields of economics, marketing, sociology, and psychology (including Francesco Alberoni, Massimo Bruscaglioni, Giorgio Galli, Larry Greiner, Gavino Manca, Abraham Maslow, Gianfranco Poggi, and Riccardo Varvelli), and were widely acclaimed over the years in the economic and industrial circles of Italy at the national level. Pirelli’s dedication to education and training continues to this day, with a system that places people at the centre. Each person is given a chance to create the training and development course that best suits their needs and objectives.

This is made possible by having a wide range of different courses, a community of internal trainers engaged in transferring professional know-how, and a learning platform that is always available for professional development and refresher courses. Since 2020, the training classrooms have been in the Cinturato Building, which was built to provide a single space for the services that Pirelli offers its people: training, catering and other activities the form Pirelli’s extensive corporate welfare system. Pirelli’s commitment in this field still extends to the families of its employees, with 140 scholarships being awarded in 2022 to children of employees who attend high school and 25 for those who attend university.

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The two sets of three finalists were selected today for the 2nd edition of the Premio Campiello Junior, the literary award created by the partnership between the Fondazione Il Campiello, the Pirelli Foundation and Pirelli, for Italian works of fiction and poetry written for children aged 7-10 and for young people aged between 11 and 14. During a vote in the Auditorium of the Pirelli Headquarters in Milan, the Jury of the award, chaired by the writer Roberto Piumini with the jurors Chiara Lagani, actress and playwright, Martino Negri, professor of literature education and children’s literature at the University of Milano-Bicocca, Michela Possamai, professor on the course of educational and clinical psychology at the IUSVE University of Venice, and a former member of the Campiello Giovani jury, and David Tolin, bookseller and member of the ALIR board, nominated the 6 finalists.

Of the more than 100 books admitted for the “Campiello Junior 7-10 years” category, the following made it to the podium: Carlo Marconi, Poesie del camminare (publ. Lapis), Nicola Cinquetti, L’incredibile notte di Billy Bologna (publ. Lapis), Nadia Terranova, Il cortile delle sette fate (publ. Guanda). For the 11-14-year category: Ilaria Rigoli, A rifare il mondo (publ. Bompiani), Davide Rigiani, Il Tullio e l’eolao più stranissimo di tutto il Canton Ticino (publ. Minimum Fax), and Lilith Moscon, Bestiario Familiare (publ. Topipittori).

The finalist books will now be submitted to the judgement of the real protagonists of this award: a popular jury of 240 children, divided into two categories of 120 each. Young readers from every corner of Italy will be called upon to choose the winner of this new edition.

Roberto Piumini explained: “This year’s Premio Campiello Junior presents some new features: the children and young people each have their own category, because they are different as readers – the former more emotional and playful, the latter more complex and sometimes also troubled. And then there is the inclusion of a book of poems in each group of three. Here, the intention is twofold: on the one hand, to present poetry to children in an authoritative manner, for poetry can be examined and appreciated especially in primary schools, although it finds little room in bookshops. The second intention is to encourage and motivate the world of publishing. The Premio Campiello Junior could continue to broaden its scope, and qualify as an Expressive Word award, in the worlds of writing, publishing, reading and social interaction, which pondered considerations point to as a remedy against the issues our age of great clamour and few words.”

The winners will be announced in May 2023 and celebrated in September during the 2023 Campiello award ceremony. The Pirelli Foundation and the Premio Campiello will also involve the jury members and all young book-lovers in a series of events devoted to the world of books and publishing, in which the authors of the finalist books will also take part.

A recently published book describes a different approach to markets and marketing

Markets consists of people rather than consumers. An observation that might sound obvious and trite but that, in reality, paints a different – and more comprehensive – image of stakeholders, portraying them for what they are: people. Indeed, the idea that human beings, rather than abstract categories, rule the markets also indicates a different approach to production culture itself. These are the topics that Matteo Rinaldi tackles in his recently published book Human-centric marketing. Prima di consumatori, siamo tutti persone (Human-centric marketing. People before consumers).

This is not merely an abstract theory inspired by the above observation, but reflects what has been happening in real life, as, actually, all most successful enterprises share the same attitude: they do not conceive their customers as ‘consumers’, but see them first of all as people with their own lives, needs, desires and fears. On this approach, Rinaldi builds a different notion of marketing whose aim is not to focus on exclusively and persistently “selling a product”, but also on stirring emotions, improve people’s lives and make them feel good about themselves and others. A kind of marketing with people at the heart, as the book’s title suggests, a concept backed up by a crucial theoretical approach: understanding what makes people tick.

Thus, Rinaldi takes us on a journey that begins with an explanation of key marketing concepts, then explores new marketing goals and reframes them into people-oriented ones, and finally ends by outlining the operational steps required to turn all this into a business practice. The book includes case studies concerning The Blond Salad and Foorban, Danone, Costa Cruises, Heineken, Huawei, Ceres, Barilla and BMW.

Matteo Rinaldi’s work is certainly stimulating and demands to be read with care as it inspires a different way to conceive an activity that is key in most companies – something that might entail a significant change in corporate culture, too.

Human-centric marketing. Prima di consumatori, siamo tutti persone (Human-centric marketing. People before consumers)

Matteo Rinaldi

Franco Angeli, 2022

A recently discussed thesis provides the key elements to understand the final frontier of finance

Digitalisation – first in production and then in financial operations. Driven by innovation, digitalisation has long caused several processes to become virtual, including banking and financial ones, thus also changing the production culture typical of Italian industry and enterprises. A topic that needs to be fully understood and whose evolutions must be followed with care. Alessandro Silvestrini’s research paper (then turned into a thesis discussed at the Marche Polytechnic University, “Giorgio Fuà” Faculty of Economics), entitled “FinTech: un focus sulla situazione italiana” (“FinTech: focus on the Italian situation”), aims, as summarised by the author, “to analyse and explore from different perspectives the technological transformation that has affected the financial industry, a phenomenon of such proportions that a new term has been coined to describe it: FinTech (Financial Technology).” Starting with an observation: in recent years, the digital revolution has deeply transformed all sectors of the global economy, starting with commerce and telecommunications, and up to the financial sphere – this is the focus of Silvestrini’s research.

The paper is structured into three sections. First of all, the concept of FinTech is clarified, also taking into consideration its legal aspects, then follows an investigation of the innovations in financial services that FinTech has made possible, and finally the author takes stock of the situation in Italy.

In his conclusion, Silvestrini writes that, “The most likely scenario seems to be that of “fintegration”, that is, a framework that will see partnerships between traditional players and innovative enterprises, which rather than fiercely compete with each other will favour collaboration, in order to benefit the whole system.” An approach that also entails a cultural change in the way businesses interact, but that may still come at some costs: as Silvestrini warns us, if this will come to pass, the two key issues to be monitored are cryptocurrencies on one side and Italy lagging behind on the other.

Alessandro Silvestrini’s research study does not add much to what we already know about FinTech, yet its merit is that it arranges the whole topic into an organic and understandable framework.

Fintech: un focus sulla situazione italiana (“FinTech: focus on the Italian situation”)

Alessandro Silvestrini

Thesis, Marche Polytechnic University, “Giorgio Fuà” Faculty of Economics, 2022

An Italy that’s both melancholic and animated, full of energy, capable of confident leaps forward as concerning the economy. Indeed, though marked by discomfort and deterioration – starting with its demographic decline, with too many hard-pressed elderly and too few industrious youths – in 2020-2021 Italy attained a 10.9% GDP increase that’s truly deserving of distinction, this being the largest growth rate achieved by a country in the G7 group, which includes the major players in the global economy. A phenomenon unseen since the economic boom of the 1950s and 1960s, and so astonishing that it’s been called a “miracle”. What to say, then, when attempting to describe Italy? Its image is an ambiguous, ambivalent, controversial one, so complex that it can’t just be overshadowed by those gloomy tones inspired by uncertainty, fear, worries about energy bills, inflation, recession, a challenging employment market and low wages – all those dark clouds that are causing economists to fear that the country might have entered “the era of the Great Stagflation” (the result of financial inflation and stagnation combined, a swamp that bogs down the economy while prices keep on rising and thus exacerbates widespread poverty, as discussed by Nouriel Roubini in IlSole24Ore of 9 December.

Is Italy in trouble, then? Of course, assuming we’re considering the real meaning of the term “crisis”, which signifies both danger and opportunity. In short, and in spite of everything, Italy wants to regain confidence in a better future, especially with regard to the new generations.

Let’s take a look first at its melancholic side then, a key term in the 56^th CENSIS report on the social condition of Italy, which has long been considered the best way to gauge the moods and trends of the Italian people (while the media talk of “backwash”, “nostalgia” or even of “a hard life”, with social observers and researchers rehashing those notions popularised by the great writer Luciano Bianciardi).

It’s all doom and gloom for employees and pensioners (increasingly vexed at having to bear the fiscal burden that funds public and welfare services for the whole country, tax dodgers included), as they’re the key representatives of an impoverished and struggling middle class, the backbone of positive social capital and, it goes without saying, of democracy itself.

According to CENSIS, following the Covid pandemic, the war and the environmental crisis, 89.7% of the Italian people feels “sad”; 59% fears that the war in Ukraine will lead to a nuclear attack; 58% feels tired due to the constant use of digital devices; and 85% of the female population believes that violence against women has increased. Still, we don’t seem to be “on the brink of a nervous breakdown” yet, and that “resentment” featuring in past CENSIS reports is no longer predominant.

Rather, what we’re witnessing is a “silent withdrawal” from social bonds and values (as demonstrated by the fact that an Italian citizen out of two no longer goes to the polls), as well as disillusionment towards the myths of populist demagogy and the beautiful lives flaunted by mass media: 83% is unwilling to “make the sacrifices required to emulate influencers” (may they finally fade away…), 81% is averse to pay the price necessary “to follow fashion”, and 63.5% that required “to look younger”. Less appearance and more substance, seems to say the vast majority of the Italian people, especially in times of crises – less talk and more responsible and earnest political, cultural and economic decisions. Are we perhaps, thanks to this crisis, truly on the verge of an extraordinary shift in awareness pertaining the quality of life, work, the future? We can only hope.

Melancholy, after all, doesn’t mean depression or despair, but rather a malaise that can be overcome, as well articulated (La Stampa, 3 December), by lawyer Malinconico (melancholic by name and by nature), the fictional character created by the insightful and brilliant writer Diego De Silva, and also the popular hero of novels and a TV series: “Gloom, as all who come equipped with it are aware, is compatible with hope.”

Let’s now have a look at the data pertaining hope then, starting with that 10.9% growth in GDP achieved during the two years following the Covid pandemic (and considering the increase recorded in the third quarter of 2022, even if the last quarter were badly affected by soaring prices and showed a decrease of up to -1.5%, the two-year period would still result in a positive growth of 10.4%).

Hence, this is not just an economic “rebound” following the crash of 2020, the year of COVID-19 and lockdown, but a real growth that’s strengthening the foundations of the Italian economy. In 2021, the GDP showed a growth of 6.7%, mostly generated by the manufacturing and export industries, while 2022 was positively affected by the performance of the services (starting with tourism) and building sectors.

“Payback for the Italian system: an innovative and digital industry 4.0, short and productive supply chains, product diversification: these are the reasons for its soaring exports. In the past six or seven years, the Italian economy was no longer struggling as it used to up to 2015,” explains Marco Fortis, professor of Industrial Economy at the Università Cattolica of Milan and director of the Edison Foundation (Il Foglio, 5 December). He goes on to describe how entrepreneurs, after the Great Crisis of 2008, succeeded in taking advantage of the fiscal stimulus introduced by Italy’s ‘Piano Industria 4.0’ (strongly driven by the Renzi and Letta governments, as well as the then Minister of Economic Development Carlo Calenda) by being clever and proactive, investing in machinery, the digital transition, process and product innovations, exports and quality, in order to consolidate productivity and competitiveness and thus boost the Italian growth.

Basically, the Italian industry acted as a driving force for development and also stimulated all related services, logistics, research, finance and so on, therefore upholding the country’s manufacturing leadership in Europe and in the world.

Other studies show similar results: the Corriere della Sera celebrates the “champions of growth” acclaimed during the Città Impresa (City Enterprise) festivals by Italy Post, while the Controvento Report by Nomisma (Affari&Finanza section of la Repubblica, 12 December) focuses on the 5,198 best Italian manufacturing companies and terms them “GDP factories”. Further, “The Italian industry possesses skills, creativity and history”, states Alberto Vacchi, whose company IMA (cutting-edge mechatronics) is amongst the best Italian multinationals.

Amidst this global trade chaos, in this complex reshoring era (production is back at the heart of industrial Europe) and the environmental and digital twin transition, Italian enterprises thrive, get stronger, represent an extraordinary social capital that guarantees wealth, well-being, employment, and tools that perpetuate innovation and growth.

The Fortis surveys undertaken for the Edison Foundation, also show how a good government is key. The Draghi government featured economic and political smarts, aimed to rebuild confidence in sustainable development, had an international authoritativeness that benefitted the entire country, and applied a long-term view concerning necessary transformations – all key drivers that strengthened the image of this “Italy deserving full marks”, as the above-mentioned 10.9% shows. Hence, it’s such a shame that the Draghi government was taken down so suddenly and foolishly, causing a crisis that badly affected Italian industry.

And now? As Fortis insists on saying, “It is strongly hoped that the new Meloni government won’t scatter the potential for growth and competitiveness the country has accrued.” Indeed.

The year that is coming to an end has been important for Pirelli, which has been celebrating its first 150 years. Through our projects and events, our aim has been to tell the long story of research and innovation that has featured so prominently in this century and a half, ever since the Sunday when the company began its life. It was founded by the young engineer Giovanni Battista Pirelli on 28 January 1872. 150 years later, on 28 January this year, the celebrations began with a show staged at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano: the event, which was put on by the Pirelli Communication Department and the Cultural Affairs Department, included a series of testimonies, voices and images from our Historical Archives. 2022 also gave the Foundation a change of look with a new exhibition entitled Pirelli: When History Builds the Future. The show illustrates not just the cultural but also the technological heritage of the company, in multimedia installations such as Inner Future, by NEO Narrative Environment Operas, videos such as Shapes, Patterns, Movements and Colors and a photographic reportage by Carlo Furgeri Gilbert, who gives his own take on the world of rubber, from raw materials to finished product. Guided tours of the new display attracted around 200 participants in the 2022 editions of the Archivi Aperti (“Open Archives”) of Rete Fotografia and at the 21st Business Culture Week. Research and innovation are also the subject of Thinking Ahead. Pirelli: 150 Years of Industry, Innovation and Culture, published by Marsilio. This multi-voice story contains contributions from representatives of the institutions, including Maria Cristina Messa, the Minister of University and Research, and Ferruccio Resta and Guido Saracco, the rectors of the Politecnico Universities of Milan and Turin, as well as great Italian authors such as Ernesto Ferrero, Giuseppe Lupo, and Bruno Arpaia, and international authors such as Ian McEwan, Geoff Mulgan and David Weinberger, as well as top names from the world of architecture, culture, music and journalism such as Salvatore Accardo, Monica Maggioni, Renzo Piano, and Ermete Realacci. The book was presented at the 2022 Economics Festival in Trento and at the Salone del Libro in Turin and it has won two awards for its promotion of corporate heritage: in the “Storytelling through words, images and sounds” category at the 2022 Corporate Heritage Awards and the Montegrappa Special Mention for the promotion of corporate heritage at the 2022 OMI Awards. Taking the book as its inspiration, BookCity Milano hosted a meeting entitled “Thinking Ahead: Business Stories in Research, Innovation, and Culture” at the headquarters of the Fondazione Corriere della Sera: a conversation between Antonio Calabrò, Ernesto Ferrero and Piergaetano Marchetti, with Isabella Ragonese reading excerpts from the book.

The 150th anniversary of the company was also celebrated by a set of three commemorative coins in gold and silver unveiled in the 2022 Numismatic Collection by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and by the Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato  (the State Printing Office and Mint), as well as by a stamp in the series that celebrates centres of excellence in the productive and economic system of Italy. These collector’s items well express the identity of the Pirelli Group. An identity shared by the Long P right across the world: many of the countries where the company is based – such as Brazil, China, Spain, and the United States, to mention but a few – have shown the travelling exhibition Pirelli: The Story of a Company. A 150-Year History of Passion and Innovation, curated by the Foundation together with the Communication Department. The exhibition is now in digital form at www.fondazionepirelli.org/pirelli-150-storia-di-passione-e-innovazione/. A digital hub, Pirelli Builds the Future, is devoted to the anniversary with stories and analyses together with a timeline of the history of Pirelli ever since 1872. But there is even more to our digital projects of 2022: to discover our world from afar, users can go on new virtual tours of the Bicocca degli Arcimboldi, of the Foundation and of the Skyscraper Stories exhibition, a  project  selected for the ADI Design Index 2021 award  and a participant in the 27th ADI Compasso d’Oro Award.

In the field of training, the work of Pirelli Foundation Educational continued with courses for schools, as well as special projects: these included the tenth edition of the Cinema & History refresher course for teachers, organised with the Fondazione ISEC, in collaboration with the Cinema Beltrade in Milan, which examined the issue of “Italy and its periods of decline and rebirth: an economic history”, and participation in the Festival dell’Innovazione e della Scienza in Settimo Torinese with a meeting entitled “Pirelli and our future on the roads – sustainable mobility, innovative tyres and road safety”. Again in 2022 we put on many events in the world of reading: a meeting devoted to schools as part of the Corporate Culture Week with Roberto Piumini, Antonella Sbuelz and Alexandra Tedesco and the launch of the second edition of the Premio Campiello Junior, with the selection of the three finalists announced on 16 December.

A 150-year-long year, celebrating and telling the story of the Long P and of our corporate culture.

Being Europe, in spite of everything. In spite of the eruption, on the European scene too, of short-sighted, national self-interests and populist-cum-sovreignist tensions, which could shatter a democratic and political equilibrium painstakingly achieved throughout the years. In spite of disagreements – those related to energy issues between France and Germany or those pertaining immigration between France and Italy. In spite of the too long delays in the EU’s attempts to find sound and effective arrangements concerning security, raw materials markets and sustainable development – while the war in Ukraine exacerbates political and social unrest, the recession looms closer and geopolitical rifts widen all over the world. Being Europe – a stronger, better Europe, so as not to upset the peaceful, democratic and wealthy balance that’s lasted for so long.

Being Europe, then, today means prioritising a well-planned EU strategy to ensure the competitiveness of its economic system and its enterprises, and promptly atone for its “three historical errors”: delegating its defence to the United States, contracting most of the energy supply to Russia, and developing an excessive technological dependence from China and – again – the United States (this brief outline is by Carlo Bonomi, president of territorial entrepreneurial institution Confindustria).

Some steps forward have been made, however. One is the BusinessEurope‘s document (the outcome of a meeting held at the end of November in Stockholm, which involved 40 leaders from European entrepreneurial associations ) reiterating the necessity to “act united” in tackling the current crisis and stand up to “divisive forces and egos that are undermining one of the founding values of the European Union – a supportive attitude.”

Another is the strategic agreement reached by Confindustria, MEDEF (the Movement of the Enterprises of France) and BDI (The Federation of German Industries), which met in Rome at the beginning of December for their fourth annual summit and asked the European Commission for a common European policy concerning energy and strategic raw materials; a financial umbrella for acquisition and supply of gas and oil, lithium, nickel and “rare earth” materials; and a number of EU instruments to protect member states from price and volume fluctuations and international speculation, as on global markets energy supplies are used as weapons to disrupt and rearrange the balance of power and security, which could be bad for Europe – due to the lack of raw materials.

Everyone is aware that if Europe loses economic competitiveness, its employment market and welfare model will be at risk, and a much more general crisis – a democratic one – might ensue.

This is why we need to act quickly with regard to the economy and EU regulations, which need to become more effective and lay the foundation for a budgetary policy able to stimulate public and private investments generating economic growth and sustainable development – still prioritising the latter, of course, but without “ideological approaches” holding back economy, businesses and social stability.

Europe is actually an industrial giant boasting record achievements as to the so-called environmental and digital twin transition, its territory is rife with extraordinarily ground-breaking enterprises, its market is strong and rich, its economic area – held together by trade, relationships and agreements – is a global player in terms of innovation and competitiveness. Yet, precisely because it’s lacking raw material, Europe is also fragile, and the absence of a common EU foreign policy focused on security and defence means that its political responses, intended to safeguard its values and interests, are rather troubled and scarcely effective.

The United States are also a cause for concern, with the Biden administration’s introduction of the Inflation Reduction Act, which is driving companies to buy American and as such is seriously undermining European businesses. Is there a risk of a new “trade war” between US and EU? Ursula von der Leyen, president of the EU Commission, reassures us that this won’t happen, as a conflict would adversely affect both parties and only benefit other economic giants – however, she’s equally categorical when defending European interests.

This is why, especially in periods of crises and tensions, it’s important that enterprises and their organisations continue to demand a strategic response placing the EU Commission first and aimed at consolidating a unity of purpose between Germany, France and Italy above all, in order to avoid unilateral temptations and, instead, foster unity and common decisions.

Indeed, there’s a recent precedent we could emulate, the unanimous decision to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic by sharing scientific research and industrial and logistical skills in order to produce vaccines and enforce effective health interventions, immediately followed by the implementation of the “EU Next Generation Recovery Plan”, financed by the international financial markets under EU guarantee, meant to withstand the economic and social crises unleashed by the pandemic and thus create, for the younger generation, a positive vision of sustainable development.

A similar approach pertaining energy and raw materials would be very useful now; a new European fund – again financed by the markets – for shared supplies, setting prices and conditions that would ensure the competitiveness of European businesses and easing the issues related to international competitors such as the United States and China (which are currently unaffected by high energy costs).

Of course, the EU budget and the new Stability and Growth pact should be amended accordingly, to obtain a forward-looking development policy for a sustainable and balanced Europe, able to safeguard and boost European values and interests – creating a strong bond between political democracy, an open and well-regulated market culture, entrepreneurial freedom and responsibility and widespread social security, a blend of competitiveness and social inclusion, productivity and solidarity.

Other issues are also on the agenda of the European entrepreneurial associations, such as less strict formal market regulations, in order to stimulate the growth and competitiveness of businesses; a more efficient single market; a series of EU decisions on international trade, to enhance the attractiveness of global investments in European countries; and a common industrial and fiscal policy to facilitate public and private investments in scientific research and technology transfers.

“We are experiencing an asymmetrical crisis, which is not affecting Asia and the United States. The threat of deindustrialisation is a very real one. And us European entrepreneurs are well aware that we face the risk to lose entire production chains – not just their know-how but also their social weight,” asserts Stefano Pan, Confindustria Delegate for European Affairs.

The EU is lending an attentive ear to these words, especially when uttered by two Commissioners as sensitive to development themes as Paolo Gentiloni and Thierry Breton are, as well as Ursula von der Leyen herself, who’s well aware of the close connection between a social and political balance and economic competitiveness. Essentially, Europe can win only if it remains united, and forward-looking – keeping its eyes on the “Next Generation”.

(Photo Getty Images)

An article scrutinises the relationships between history and economy, addressing old and new research methods

History understood as human life repeating, while also renewing, itself. History teaching us how to better look at the present and pay more attention to the future, and thus address all the issues that need to be addressed. A complex history, then, to be explored and enjoyed nonetheless, even when classic research methods are in need of more recent (and perhaps innovative) approaches – something that also applies to business and economy.

Giovanni Gozzini and Francesco Maccelli investigate these topics in their “Storia contemporanea, storia economica ed economia: un dialogo tra sordi?” (“Contemporary history, economic history and economy. Words falling on deaf ears?”), an article that was recently published in the journal Passato e presente (Past and present).

The two authors start from a remark: mathematical methods, and especially econometrics ones, are being increasingly used to analyse history, and this might lead, at times, to some unwarranted conclusions. Indeed, the article explains how easy it is to apply excessive objectiveness and mathematical reasoning, and ignore the human dimension that every historical event entails, which also affects the research of scholars whose own approach is technically quite different from the ordinary methods applied to the study of history (and, often, of economics, too). A focus on computation rather than human nature, and the inspiration for the thought-provoking title chosen by Gozzini and Maccelli for their contribution: “Words falling on deaf ears?”. This seems to be the case, especially when, as the two authors note, “historian-mathematicians” create their own research and information exchange environments, from which the “other historians”, as well as other economics and social scholars, are excluded.

According to the two researchers, this causes the risk to reduce history and the interpretation of reality to a mechanical representation that is far from the complex nature of reality but, they further explain, those who study the past and the present should make an effort, instead, to reconcile different approaches, making the most of new research methods that do not preclude those aspects of human activity that cannot be reduced to mathematical formulae. Indeed, we need to understand the complexity of history, rather than simplify it – a good practice that also applies to a corporate culture that wants to keep on growing and enriching itself.

Storia contemporanea, storia economica ed economia: un dialogo tra sordi? (“Contemporary history, economic history and economy. Words falling on deaf ears”)

Giovanni Gozzini, Francesco Maccelli

PASSATO E PRESENTE, 117/2022