Il Bel Paese visto da fuori

“Productivity has stagnated since the 1990s chiefly because Italian firms are on average too small and too slow to grow. The few firms that employ more than 50 workers are comparatively productive, the myriad smaller ones far less so. One explanation is that domestic competitive pressures are relatively low, especially in services. Stronger competition would […]

“The encampments and most of the protests have been largely peaceful, yet they have at times been brutally repressed. As a university president in Italy, I have watched with dismay the scenes of violence that have unfolded at universities from Amsterdam to Los Angeles and Sydney. It was good to see some of my counterparts, […]

“An Italian school’s decision to exempt Muslim children from studying Dante because the mediaeval poet placed Mohammed in hell in The Divine Comedy has sparked a backlash and a debate over cancel culture.” Fonte: The Telegraph Autore: Nick Squires Link: Backlash as Muslim children in Italy exempted from studying Dante

“Politicians turned a blind eye for decades as, in an area of exceptional natural beauty and desirable coastal real estate, building ran amok and the population swelled. Half a million people now live in towns across the danger zone.” Fonte: Politico Autore: Hannah Roberts Link: How a supervolcano on the Italian coast became a problem […]

“The personification of Mr Salvini’s tilt to the right is Roberto Vannacci, a serving army general who last year self-published a book so overtly racist and homophobic that Ms Meloni’s defence minister, Guido Crosetto, a member of the Brothers, dismissed its contents as “ravings” (Ms Meloni herself made no comment). General Vannacci is standing for […]

“The couple promotes properties scattered across the Ionian coast, which they believe is the most authentic and pristine corner of Calabria, as opposed to the more crowded and popular Tyrrhenian coast.” Fonte: CNN Autore: Silvia Marchetti Link: Buying a dream home in Italy can be a nightmare. This couple says they have the answer

“Last month, the film’s crew and its director, Matteo Garrone, took “Io Capitano” to a dozen places in Senegal where migration isn’t fiction. They screened it in youth centers, in schools, even on a basketball court turned outdoor movie theater in Guédiawaye, a suburb of Dakar, where Mr. Diallo and hundreds of others watched it […]

“At the height of Riace’s international welcome, some estimate nearly half of the town’s residents were migrants. Most of those seeking refuge have moved on in recent years and only a handful remain.” Fonte: Politico Autore: Ben Munster Link: Divided by migration, this tiny Italian community turned into a ghost town

“In Berkeley, California, Daniels’ curiosity took her to Mussomeli, one of the most prominent Sicilian towns with a 1-euro scheme. There, Daniels, 50, bought three 1-euro properties with intentions to turn them into a vacation home, a restaurant and a wellness center.” Fonte: CNBC Autore: Jennifer Liu Link: From $35,000 to $446,000: What it cost […]

“Only two specific dishes were nominated by more than one panelist: the agnolotti del plin at Madonna della Neve in the Piedmont and the vincisgrassi at Osteria dei Fiori in the Marche region, both centuries-old dishes served at decades-old restaurants. The classics, in general, came up again and again.” Fonte: The New York Times Autore: […]