Giovedì, 05 Maggio 2016 - 13:36 Comunicato 854

This year’s topic is “Where growth takes place”.

Trento Festival of Economics 2016: from the 2nd to the 5th of June Trento hosts the new edition of its festival

“World’s economic geography suggests economic growth is increasingly concentrated in relatively few large cities capable of attracting human capital and of driving innovation.
The economic hierarchy not only of countries, but also of cities, has undergone profound change and is in constant flux. There are many advancing and many falling back in the urban rankings of the world. It is vital that we study the economic and demographic growth of these new phenomena in order to understand not only the ingredients required for growth but also their optimal combination, the recipes we need if we want to prosper”. This analysis by Tito Boeri, the Scientific Director of the Festival of Economics, is the launching pad for the 11th edition of Trento Festival of Economics: the arena where economists, political and institutional stakeholders, researchers and journalists from all over the world, will exchange views and investigate the topic “Where growth takes place”.
Tito Boeri further explains that: “The economic context, of cities especially, plays a very important role in social mobility as well, as we learnt in last year’s edition of the Festival. This eleventh edition will instead tackle an area that has only recently been rediscovered: the economics of space and geography. We will welcome economists, demographers, and sociologists who are experts in urban agglomeration. And we will hear from those who today and in the past have played an active role in administering these territories, mindful that the rapid growth or decline of an area poses complex governance problems, not only at a local level”.

The Trento Festival of Economics will start on the 2^nd of June with the opening conference by professor Enrico Moretti, economist at Berkeley University (California). He will investigate the new employment-geography. During the same day, Mr. Kaushik Basu, Senior Vice-President at World Bank will spread light on the deep roots of the economic crisis and on the future scenarios, especially concerning the developing economies.

In the evening a dialogue between two famous architects, Mario Botta and Vittorio Gregotti, will take place, focusing on the creation of public spaces, mixing creativity, urban regulations, and market demands.

The auditorium Santa Chiara will host a concert of the orchestra and choir of the “Bonporti” Trento & Riva del Garda music academy. The performance will conclude the events planned for the 2^nd of June, Italian National Day and Republic Day.

On Friday the 3^rdof June, Trentino, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Lombardia’s governors (Ugo Rossi, Debora Serracchiani and Roberto Maroni) will share their views about growth and regional policy.

On the same day, Jörg Asmussen, economist and former State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, will explore the possibility for the European Union in becoming a place for freedom, peace, stability and prosperity.

Christian Dustmann, Professor of Economics at University College London and Director of CReAM (Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration), will discuss economical and political aspects of migrations.

Federico Rampini, writer, columnist and USA correspondent for “la Repubblica”, will propose an interesting comparison between New York and San Francisco, between differences and conflicts.

Raffaele Cantone, President of the Anti-corruption National Authority of Italy, will arouse audience’s interest on the theme of corruption under a geographical perspective.

On Saturday June 4th, François Villeroy and Ignazio Visco, governors of the Bank of France Bank and the Bank of Italy, will discuss the possibility of establishing a European Financial Ministry. On the same day, Italy’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Paolo Gentiloni, will take part in the festival dealing with the issue “Where crisis takes place”.

On Sunday 5^th of June, two Italian ministers will be at the festival: Giuliano Poletti, Minister for employment and social policies, and Pier Carlo Padoan, Minister for Economy and finance.

The closing event of the festival will take place at 6.30 pm at Teatro Sociale: a conference featuring the 2011 Nobel Laureate in Economics, Michael Spence. Mr. Spence and Tito Boeri will investigate growth scenarios in the light of new ideas emerged during the festival.

The 11th edition of the Trento Festival of Economics presents some novelties such as the new format “Spotlight”: three special events (one per day) that will analyse three facts animating the current economical scene: Atlante’s case (Alessandro Penati, Friday 3rd of June at 5.30 pm); Panama Papers (Vincenzo Visco, Saturday 4^th of June at 10 am) and Mondadori –Rizzoli’s case (Marco Gambaro, Sunday 5^th of June at 5 pm)

Thanks to last years success CinEconomia has been confirmed to take place in this year’s programme; each evening at cinema Modena, a film related to the topic of the festival will be screened. Films selected by Marco Onado and by Andrea Landi.

Other two formats have been confirmed: Meeting the authors (by Tonia Mastrobuoni) in Trento’s public library and “Keywords”, focusing on the following topics: agglomeration; migrants and criminality; downtown and suburbs.

Adriano Prosperi and Franco Cardini will present the format called “Nella Storia”; they will connect the main theme of the festival with some relevant historical events.

Once again, the festival will also host the competition EconoMia, promoted by MIUR (Italy’s Minister of Education, University and Research), the European Association for Economical Education, the Autonomous Province of Trento’s department for knowledge and Parma’s “Istituto Tecnico Economico Bodoni”. Each one of the eleven young winners will be awarded with a check of 200€ and will be hosted in Trento during the Festival. The competition aims at promoting and spreading economical knowledge among Italian students, thus improving the economical education in Italy.

As usual, events are free until all seats are taken. It is not possible to book seats in advance. In order to enter the events taking place at Teatro Sociale and Auditorium Santa Chiara you will need free vouchers available at the ticket office two hours prior the events.

(fm)