When I heard the news that Mario Draghi, ex-ECB President from 2011 to 2019, was called by President Sergio Mattarella to form a government in Italy, I quickly looked up his speech in Rimini from this past summer. He’s probably the right person, who’s stepping in at the right time in the right position.
From what we do know about Draghi’s life, he’s dedicated it to banking and economics. He’s a graduate of La Sapienza in Rome, and obtained his Ph.D. at the MIT. He’s walked the corridors of prestigious banking institutes and became famous while navigating the choppy waters of the Eurozone after the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis, promising citizens of the EU that he would find safe harbour by doing ‘whatever it takes.’
I’ve been in Italy for over 24 years, and have realised it has a geo-political role to play in the Mediterranean and Europe, but it feels like we’ve been in a coma for quite some time. Politicians have been talking about sorely-needed reform for at least 30 years, but that’s where it stops: it’s just talk. We’re still dealing with corruption on all levels, a turtle-like over-burdened justice system, political nepotism and clientelism, decaying infrastructure in sectors like education, transportation and healthcare, and I could go on and on. It would be interesting to see how much faith and trust citizens still have in our institutions.
This said, what is really stopping reform is a short-sighted political class that lives from election cycle to election cycle, and populist factions within each party offering scotch-tape measures instead of a long-term vision necessary for the future. Much of the heavy lifting in terms of reform has been done in the past by governments led by technocrats- at least this is the impression.
Since we all know that we’ll be called to face the economic and social fallout of the pandemic, tackle the transition to clean energy sources, and deal with the growing predominance of China and other authoritarian-minded powers, the political system and its representatives will have to look beyond the next election.
For now it seems that they’ve set aside their differences in what I hope to be a long-ish truce and are on board with Draghi and his plan to guide Italy through the pandemic. They could make their contribution to the Recovery Plan, thereby setting Italy on a course towards renewal and reform, which has been the desire of Italians as well as partners in the EU.
With a near perfect system of proportional representation comes a plethora of political parties and recurring painful migranes: will they band and work together under the guidance of the new PM? How long can the traditional elements within the parties keep their more populist members at bay?
For now, the higher profile ministries, that will have to oversee the Recovery Plan and future reform, have been assigned to experts, while the other ministries have been given to politicians from all the parties across the political spectrum that have signed on: the number of ministries per party reflects the number of seats the party holds in Parliament.
In my view, women ministers are under-represented, but on balance, Draghi has managed to be fair. This doesn’t mean it’ll be easy for them to agree on the issues: it will surely be an uphill battle for PM Draghi, but he’s strapped on his boots, ready to climb the Everest.
As I look back on Italy’s long history, there’s one thing that remains a constant: Italians are blessed with the spirit of creativity. I could rattle off a long list of names, disclosing excellence in a number of endeavours like engineering, design, the arts, sports, cooking, music, literature, science and education. How many have been moved to tears at the sight of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel? If you’ve been to Paris and visited the Pompidou Centre, then you’ve marvelled at the architectual design of the visionary Renzo Piano. At the helm of CERN is Fabiola Gianotti and her colleague Federico Ronchetti is carrying out cutting-edge research with his teams in 4 experimental departments. What I’m about to say is probably debatable, but as I see it in each of these cases and so many more, what strikes me is that it’s always a singular individual, emerging from the masses, standing out as an example of excellence.
As I contemplated Draghi’s life from this perspective, he seems to carry on the tradition of all those brilliant and unique points of reference. We know very little about his private life because he has no social media profiles, nor has he been the focus of pesky paparazzis. Financial gurus are a tad too nerdy and definitely not titillating enough for most or so it seems. From what we do know, he lost his parents very early on, so I’m guessing he must have risen to the upper echelons of financial power through pure ambition, determination and intellectual prowess.
What of his moral or ethical standing? Here I’d like to draw attention to his thoughts on the future path for Italy and its role and place as he sees it deeply rooted in the European Union. You can read it below, and I believe it’s quite revealing.
His vision focuses on a neglected generation that will be called on to lead in the future, come up with solutions to complex issues, and sew up the gaping holes in our fraying social fabric: our youth. This has been missing for so many years in Italian politics since various representatives of the political spectrum mostly concentrate on the older generations or have taken on a populist style for electoral gain. When I heard his speech, I thought: how refreshing, and forward-thinking, but you can judge for yourselves.
August 18, 2020- Rimini (with English subtitles)
12 years ago, the financial crisis caused the greatest economic destruction we had ever seen in peacetime. We then experienced a second recession in Europe, and with it a further loss of employment. The euro crisis then reared its head, followed by the pressing threat of depression and deflation. We overcame all of these trials.
Just as confidence had returned, and the economic recovery was starting to take hold, we were hit even harder by the coronavirus outbreak. The pandemic has not only caused economic damage; it threatens to undermine the fabric of our society as we know it. It spreads uncertainty, destroys employment, paralyses consumption and investment.
After such a succession of crises, the subsidies being provided in many countries are a first form of support by society for those who have been hit hardest, and in particular for those who have tried so often to regain their footing in the world. The subsidies will enable them to survive, to start again. But we must do even more to help the young: after all, the subsidies will end but they will be left with a lack of professional qualifications and experience, compromising both their freedom of choice and their earning potential later in life.
Society as a whole cannot accept a world without hope. Instead, gathering our collective energies and sense of purpose, we must seek the path of reconstruction.
In our present circumstances, this path requires pragmatism. We do not know when a vaccine will be discovered or what our world will look like then. Opinions are divided between those who believe that everything will return to the way it was before, and those who see this crisis as the beginning of a period of profound change. The reality will likely be somewhere in between: in some sectors, not much will change; in others, existing technologies can and will be rapidly adapted. Still other sectors will expand and grow as they adjust to the new patterns of demand and behaviours produced by the pandemic. But for others, activity is unlikely to return to the same levels that prevailed before the pandemic.
We must accept the inevitability of change with realism and, at least until a remedy is found, we must adapt our behaviours and policies. But we must not renounce our principles. Economic policy must not compound the uncertainty already being caused by the pandemic and rapid change. Otherwise we will end up being controlled by uncertainty instead of us controlling it. We will lose our way. […]
So my message to you today is not a lesson in economic policy. It is a call of a more ethical nature to face together the challenges of reconstruction and to re-affirm the values and objectives on which we want to rebuild our societies and economies, in Italy and in Europe.
To continue reading the full text- Draghi’s Speech at Rimini Meeting
The Blue Wave by Davide Cortese
Many people around the world have been following the worrying nationalist and authoritarian wave that carried Trump to power. That same wave, that Trump championed, normalized hate vs minorities, nationalism and disregard for accountability in many countries.
In Italy, the rise to power of populists and nationalists reached its peak in 2018 coinciding with Trump's midterm, when an anti-EU government coalition formed by the populist 5 Star Movement and the nationalists of the right-wing League Party joined forces in a parliamentary majority led by Giuseppe Conte. Almost completely unknown to anyone in Italy, he was an obscure professor close to the 5S Movement, who defined himself the "People's attorney".
Conte, who seemed perfectly comfortable signing authoritarian anti-immigration decrees with his right-wing Vice PM Salvini, managed to recycle himself in 2019 as the leader of a new majority. In the summer 2019, Salvini pulled the League out of government in an attempt to force new elections. The maneuvre didn’t work: Salvini’s party was replaced by the left-wing Democratic Party and other left-leaning forces.
Conte has never stood up to authoritarians like Trump and Putin. Quite the opposite.
He sought their favor.
In an embarrassing display, he waved like a teenage fanboy when Trump arrived late to a dinner at the G7, trying to get his attention.
He had no problem drawing a parallel between his own government and the Trump administration.
He tried to get Putin back into G7.
He welcomed Russia's assistance during the pandemic, and to the horror of EU partners and NATO, he allowed the Russian military to freely run a propaganda op in Italy, and while no one was looking, he nominated two of Putin's cabinet ministers "Knights of the Republic" in the summer 2020.
He provided intelligence support to Trump’s AG Bill Barr, who came to Rome fishing for information to discredit the Mueller probe and Russiagate.
He never condemned any of his American counterpart’s actions, even while other EU leaders had.
Trump obviously realized how cheap Conte's loyalty was, and showed his support for Conte's second government with an infamous tweet where he misspelled Conte's name "Giuseppe" with "Giuseppi".
As you may guess, this was unacceptable for those of us who believe in a liberal democracy, the European Union, its values and in accountability.
We knew the main battle in this war was going to be fought in the US, and the result of that battle would deeply affect us in the end.
We sincerely hoped that a political change in the greatest superpower, our ally, would swing the balance of power away from everything that Trump represented.
We pulled all-nighters, watching the debates in the primaries, commenting on and picking our favourite candidates.
Stacey Abrams became our hero: we celebrated the culmination of her efforts & the Fair Fight's work that led to flipping Georgia blue, winning the senate majority.
We followed every step in the election campaigns, and began celebrations the moment ABC News announced Pres Biden & VP Harris’s victory. We were horrified by the crazy events that followed, leading up to the 6/1 Capitol riot, and we finally breathed a sigh of relief, moved to tears by Biden & Harris' inauguration.
Decency was back in the US but not in Italy: we still had the memory-foam shapeshifter leading the government. Incredibly, he was getting ready to call himself a "friend of Biden" (he didn’t congratulate Biden and Harris personally) and mutate into his third incarnation.
Former PM Matteo Renzi, whose party joined the 2nd Conte cabinet with 2 ministers, finally pulled the plug and withdrew his party's support from the current majority.
There is a bit of a mystery surrounding Renzi's decision. Some analysts say it was an irresponsible leap into the void, a Macchiavellian powerplay to score more cabinet positions. Others believe it was all a cunning plan to lead Mario Draghi (with whom he was supposedly in touch) to his current role as PM. Some have even posited that there was a secret Atlantic mandate triggering Renzi into action to remove "Giuseppi".
Whatever the truth is, we’re finally proud to have a prestigious and competent pro-EU Prime Minister, who is already credited with saving the Euro.
It's not gonna be easy, but the Blue Wave has finally arrived in Italy and we're gonna ride it for as long as we can.
CTP Pods
For more on 5 Stars and ex-Pm Conte:
Nov 21: Interview with Jacopo Iacoboni
Up-coming pods:
Feb 18: Prof Ruth Ben-Ghiat- ‘Strongmen’
Feb 21: Olga Lautman- Russia, Trump & Navalny
Feel free to DM me @MoniqueCamarra on Twitter or write us an email: coffeetalkpolitics@gmail.com
Senior researcher: Davide Cortese
Junior researcher: Rebecca Bello (University of Siena)
Thanks for reading!
Mo