#SoseXpress – Press Review 10th/16th October

I resume a journey that has lasted for five years through our universities, which are the fabric of in-depth study and transmission of knowledge that is a fundamental element of guarantee for the future of our country.

These are the words that Sergio Mattarella used at the inauguration ceremony of the University of Macerata's academic year.

The debate of ideas

 

Bob Wilson and Paul Milgrom won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Economic sciences.

The development of auction theory and the invention of new auction systems allowed Bob Wilson and Paul Migron to win the 2020 Nobel Prize in Economic science. The topics at the base of their innovative work were used to bid telecommunication frequencies and oil exploration fields. The two economists, professors at Standford University, applied their theory to other fundamental areas of Economics. 

 

Confindustria and CNR promote together industrial Ph.Ds.

Confindustria and CNR have promoted an industrial Ph. D. activation to make the academic world's offer of knowledge and research to meet enterprises' demand for innovation. This topic was the focus of a conference on 13th October, "The industrial Ph.D.: an opportunity for the research and enterprises".  The Minister of University and Research, Gaetano Manfredi, attended the meeting.

Studies, researches and numbers

 

IMF: 28 thousand billion in 5 years is the global weight of the economic crisis caused by Covid -19.

The World Economic Outlook is published twice a year and presents IMF staff economists' analyses of global economic developments during the near and medium-term. The World Economic Outlook, presented on 13th October in Washington during the Annual Meetings, reported a dramatic situation due to the Covid effect on the planet. However, the IMF looks beyond the economic crisis horizon and forecasts a medium-long term growth of about 3,5%. 

 

Black economy: Istat takes stocks of the quarter 2015-2018.

The black economy includes all economic activities that, due to different reasons, cannot be observed directly and are, therefore, illegal. This last publication concerns the quarter 2015-2018, during which the value-added generated by the black economy amounted to about 211 billion euros (213,9 in 2017), decreasing by 1,3% compared to the preceding year. The black economy incidence on GDP decreased by 0,4 percentage points, amounting to 11,9% and confirming a decreasing trend from 2014 when a peak of 13,0% was registered. 

 

The Global economy recovers, but the economic outlook is still uncertain.

The world economy recovered over the summer but continues to be mostly dependent on the exceptional stimulus measures introduced in all the leading economies. The outlook remains subject to uncertainty about the course of the pandemic. This emerges in the Economic Bulletin By the Bank of Italy published on 16th October.

The voice of Stakeholders

 

Tourism: the number of Italian tourists decreased in the summer of 2020.

Last Summer only 60% of the Italians went on holiday compared to 75% of the previous year. The fear of Covid-19 infection (in 44,3% of cases) and the economic difficulties (27%) curbed the desire for the leisure of 6,5 million people.

 

Boom of online shopping…but not of services!

E-commerce in pandemic times records the highest leap never registered before, +5,5 billion euros, reaching 23,4 billion euros.  This emerges in a study by the e-commerce Observatory of Politecnico in Milan. This increase is not proportional to services bought online as in the tourism and transport sectors, which suffered a 47% decrease equal to 7,2 billion euros. 

 

Machine tool industry: encouraging data.

During the exhibition's inaugural conference dedicated to the machine tool industry, the UCIMU-Sistemi Research Department provided encouraging data regarding this sector.

The index of the Italian constructors' orders recorded a more contained decrease in the third quarter than in the second quarter of 2020.

In particular, in July-September 2020, the index of orders recorded an 11,4% decrease (in the second quarter, the reduction was 39,1%) compared to the same quarter of 2019. The domestic market registered a drop of 24,9% in the orders compared to a more limited decrease, -6,6%, in those collected abroad. 

 

Industrial turnover and orders. Istat has registered a positive trend.

The seasonally adjusted turnover increased by 5,9% in August, continuing the positive trend registered last May. The average rose by +35.9%  in the quarter June-August compared to the previous three months.

The seasonally adjusted industrial new orders index registered a higher increase than turnover (+15.1%); the average of the last three months rose by +47.3% compared to the previous three months. 

 

Employment: enterprises forecast 282 thousand new jobs in October.

Enterprises forecast 282 thousand new jobs in October, a decrease of 27,9% compared to October 2019. In the same period of last year, the North-East (-30,2%) and the Center (-29,5%) registered the most significant reduction, followed by the North-West (-27,4%) the South and the Isles (-25,4%). This is the scenario outlined by the Excelsior Computer System Bulletin by Unioncamere and Anpal.

Innovation

 

Cloud in Italy: SMEs’ update.

The Covid-19 health emergency has increased companies' awareness about the importance of Cloud, the technological platform on which the digital transformation is based.  The emergency response also affected the increasing adoption of Cloud by SMEs. A 30% decrease, which amounts to 2 billion euros. Here the data provided by the  Cloud Transformation Observatory of the Politecnico of Milan.

Local Authorities

 

Measurement of territories’ well-being: Istat updates the indicators.

ISTAT published the indicators of equitable and sustainable well-being in Italian provinces and metropolitan districts in 2018 for the first time. The debate about the measurement of individuals’ and companies’ well-being drew the attention of local institutions as the need emerged to measure a country’s GDP and its health status. 

 

Funds for local authorities: the Minister of the Interior and the State-Cities Conference reached an agreement.

A Decree of the Minister of the Interior, in agreement with the State-Cities Conference, allocated other funds to local authorities already provided for by the August decree. The funds will be allocated based on the authorities' further expenses for social services and local public transport. In the 15th October meeting, new criteria were approved to calculate costs and standard expenditure needs concerning waste disposal. The latest methodological note's innovation is the extension to 4 tax years of the database to utilize the data collected for standard expenditure needs elaboration.

The world of MEF

 

Minister Gualtieri’s hearing at the Chamber.

Minister Gualtieri held a hearing before the Budget Committee of the Chamber to illustrate the update Note of Def 2020 and outline the fiscal reform process implemented in 3 years. 

 

The Lottery of receipts: The Guarantor of the Privacy expressed a favorable opinion.

The Guarantor of the Privacy approved the resolution scheme implementing the “lottery of receipts” and establishing new rewards for adult consumers who reside in Italy and purchase goods or services paying by credit or debit cards and for sellers who issue the winning receipt. 

 

Decreasing tax revenues: MEF’s data.

In the first eight months of 2020 Tax revenues and contributions registered a decrease of 7,1% (-32,205 million euros) compared to the same period of 2019. These data consider the reduction of 6,3% (- 18,832 million euros) in tax revenues and of 8,5% (- 13,373 million euros) in contributions.

The decrease in the first eight months compared to the same period of the preceding year depends on the worsening economic situation and the impact of the measures adopted to face the health emergency. Here the press release by MEF.

 

“Contribuenti solidali”: an acknowledgement by the State.

"Contribuenti solidali" are taxpayers who paid taxes in a period extremely difficult for the Country, although they could postpone the payment according to "Cure Italy," Liquidity, and Relaunch decrees. The Minister for Economy and Finance decided to attribute this special mention giving visibility to the taxpayers who will require it through a public list on the website. MEF's press release states: "These citizens have provided considerable support to the Italian economy." Thanks to their choice, the Country can look forward to the end of the crisis and the national recovery.