2013, looking towards Europe

The new, 2012-2013 academic year at the LIUC University, in Castellanza, began with a focus on Europe. Two big names in the European economic field were called upon to speak in the Bussolati Hall, marking the beginning of the university’s 21st year, which coincides with one of the darkest periods in economic history, not only in Italy, but in Europe. After the European anthem and the initial speeches by the President Paolo Lamberti and the Chancellor Valter Lazzari, there were speeches by Stefano Micossi, the director of Assonime (an association of joint-stock companies) and Chairman of CIR, and Rodolfo Helg, a lecturer in political economics, who was recently appointed to the administration of the LIUC School of Economics and Management.

Paolo Lamberti spoke about the “daily commitment by the university in Castellanza to open up towards Europe and the world, with a strong program of international exchanges, the double degree program, the Summer School, the Erasmus program, the courses taught in English, and the internationalisation program for lecturers and administration staff.” The Chancellor, Valter Lazzari, warned those who could not see the light at the end of the tunnel of the economic crisis, and emphasised that “we do not want to become resigned to the idea of living at a time of diminished expectations; we need to adapt, to continually sow, design, and innovate,” and, in order not to give in to this pessimism, the LIUC has set, as an obligation, the wish to produce “educated young people who are citizens of the world, true cosmopolitans, who know how to manoeuvre among different cultures.”

The two speeches were followed by two lectures about Europe and Italy by Micossi and Helg. Micossi outlined the journey begun by Europe towards economic and monetary union. “The Eurozone has, more or less, made the necessary adjustments in the three years of the crisis, but has not dispelled doubts about the possibility of surviving in the medium-long term, which is still threatened by severe imbalances between the member countries.” In contrast, Helg’s analysis focused on Italy’s role in the Eurozone, by analysing the structural problems that the politics of last 20 years has failed to resolve, or even made worse, and how we can recover.