On July 20, 2021 the presentation of Roger Abravanel’s book “Aristocracy 2.0 – A new elite to save Italy” (ed. Solferino).
The event, opened by Ambassador Pietro Sebastiani, was attended, besides the author, by the Rector of the Lateran University Vincenzo Bonomo and the Vice President of the Luiss Guido Carli University Paola Severino. The moderation was entrusted to the journalist Chiara Del Gaudio.
In his speech, Ambassador Sebastiani reiterated the importance of economic and pedagogical-social issues, which are interconnected. In particular, he stressed that in the era in which we live, three open faults can be identified: the weakening of international multilateral systems, the progressive shift of the axis of the world to the East, and the serious limits of this capitalism and globalization.
Roger Abravanel presented his book highlighting the transition from the industrial economy, established in the 70s, to the knowledge economy, characterized by rapid technological change and scientific innovation. The author emphasized three aspects common to the “winning” economies of large and small countries: companies that want to grow more and more, universities as a source of development, and public institutions as instruments that foster growth. According to the author, these three characteristics will determine who will be able to overcome the challenge generated by the pandemic. Finally, Roger Abravanel has put forward three proposals to make our country more competitive: reform capitalism, bring out 3/4 research universities of excellence and rebalance the legal power.
Vincenzo Bonomo affirmed that meritocracy must take concrete form in the ability to select talents, and reiterated that the specific objective of universities must be to train young people so that they are able to compete in managing complex situations.
Paola Severino pointed out that communication between the worlds of public administration and business is an essential factor for the proper functioning of the economy, and in this regard, she also affirmed that universities, committed to the training and integration of young people into the world of work, can play a key role in fostering this dialogue.
