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SOMMARIO:
1.
A number of events have characterized the dynamics of the new
millennium financial markets. There is a change which can not only be ascribed
to the resorption of the «dotcom» speculative bubble since march 2000
or to the complex geopolitical context nofollowing the 9/11 terrorist attack, but
it seems that the way investors react to the news had a drastic change. Observing
markets. evolution on the last twenty years, there are some stylized fact which
can not be explained only invoking the influence of geopolitical and economic
news on the strategies and appetites of investors.it is difficult to understand
why the terrorist attack of September 11th has produced a market movement more
than five times smaller than the black Monday crash. Firm specific and aggregate
shocks generate reassessment of investors and analysts expectations on earnings
forecasts and on the fundamental value of equities. The effects of structural
shocks on financial markets has recently focused on the impact of the 9/11 attack. 2.
GATT-WTO have contributed significantly to economic growth, development
and employment during the past 50 years. International trade can still play a
major role in the promotion of economic development and the alleviation of poverty
of emerging countries if their «needs and interests» are at the heart
of the Work Programme of the current negotiations. In this context, enhanced market
access, balanced rules and well targeted, sustainably financed technical assistance
and capacity-building programmes have important roles to play. The strategic importance
of the market access for non-agricultural products (NAMA) is to dismantle commercial
barriers on the rich markets of developed countries, including the reduction of
tariff peaks, high tariffs and tariff escalation, as well as non-tariff barriers,
especially concerning «labour intensive» goods. 3.
Very frequently budget outcomes differ from initial forecasts. The
paper initially present a review of events in pre-Revolutionary France after Jacques
Necker presented what is probably the first budget plan relying on fiscal measures
to balance the French kingdom budget for 1781. The debate that nofollowed on transparency,
financial reputation of the bond issuer, contradiction between cash outcomes and
authority to spend show strong resemblance with themes of the present (2005) debate
on the state of Italian public finances. The paper stresses the inconsistency
of Italian budgetary procedures where budget decisions are based upon legal authority
to spend and commit resources but ex-post evaluations are based (Eurostat rules)
on traditional resources absorption statistics. Also it stresses that Italian
budget procedures have not yet solved the intricate relationship between financial
planning and need evaluation. 4.
This paper investigates about the existence of economies of scale
and scope in the Italian banking system. The wide process of reorganization and
differentiation of the banking system aloud by the 1993 legislation offers in
fact a new occasion of deepening this question. The data, relative to 111 medium
and large bank operating in the time 1998-1999, show significant economies of
scale for both years and economies of scope connected to the production of intermediation
and payment services. Also important appears the role of the bad credit when its
consequences on the costs are explicitly recognized in determining of performances
of bank. 5.
The issue of the Constitution for Europe, in the process of ratification
by the member countries of the European Union, is discussed in its historic, economic,
political and institutional aspects. In particular, the shortcomings of a constitution
and of a common currency without a state are stressed; the inherent contradiction
of the stability pact, in the absence of a common general economic policy which
only a federal state might be charged with, is pointed out; a constitutional assembly
for the establishment of a European federal state, possibly among a few of the
present members of the European Union to start with, is proposed. 6.
A comparison is proposed between the main political-economic aspects
related to the course of world prices for the two periods 1970-1974 and 2001-2004,
emphasizing similarities and differences. The current international monetary system
and the dominant role of the US dollar in it are presented. The perspectives on
the course of world prices are briefly discussed assuming the permanence of this
system, which is also examined taking into account both the large present deficit
in the international accounts and the political-economic strength of USA. The
International Monetary Fund forecast of world prices for the next five years is
commented. 7.
The fast growth of the US economy during the last fifteen years
is not only due to the rapid expansion of the new economy induced by the spill-over
of the scientific research and its products from the military sector to the civilian
sector but also to the fast growth of the private consumption financed by a dramatic
increase of the households. indebtness, to investment financed by a massive inflow
of foreign capital and to a huge trade deficit. The slow growth of the European
economy during the same period is due to the severe monetary and fiscal policies
nofollowed by the European Central Bank and the member countries of the European
Monetary Union. 8.
The author considers how the Italian economic
situation is difficult from the macroeconomic and the microeconomic point of view.
The lowing down of Italian economic growth is worst than that of UE which is also
lower than that of US. In these conditions Italy should avoid conflicts on euro
and on the Stability and Growth Pact. What is necessary, on the contrary, is an
economic policy to increase competitiveness, R&D and infrastructures. That
is an economic policy which puts sound public finances and innovation to the core
of the choices. The author analyses all these aspects also keeping inspiration
from the framework of reflections of the President of the Italian Republic, Carlo
Azeglio Ciampi. 9.
Commercial credit plays a relevant role in
Italian firms. financial statements, both on the asset and liability sides. The
paper focus on the effects of payments terms on the companies. financial needs.companies
usually equalize the average life of inventories with the average life of commercial
debt. The average life of commercial credit is one of the main factors influencing
the need for NWC. The need for NWC influences the amount of available free cash
flows to re-pay debt payments. The effective payment dates significantly differ
from nominal payments dates, thus generating a financial/investment mechanism
strongly affected by external causes. However it does not necessarily reflect
an efficient distribution of the financial resources. 10.
The
large and increasing deficit of the US balance of payments on current account
raises the issue of the long-term sustainability of the US foreign debt position.
While nobody seems to deny the existence of the issue, opinions diverge over the
urgency of corrective measures. The fast . growing Asian economies are, at the
same time, part of the problem and of its solution. The international monetary
system and the international relations will be differently shaped should a cooperative
or a conflictual model prevail.
11.
This work refers to the wide existing literature on Becker's theory
of human capital, and suggests a minor theoretic integration aimed at stressing
the family's influence. A possible function is presented to explain the "family
background" which is introduced in the short term and however, extendible to the
longer term. A brief review of the introduced variables turned out necessary in
order to check the economic correspondence of the suggested function, and results
are in line with the principles of the same theory. The comments on the "family
background" aim at stressing that the traditional model in terms of human capital
can be better adjusted, providing a more precise formulation of the actual cost
and, thus, of the yield of the investment in education. | 
