Economy

Department of Economy

Upper division programs – 45 hours in 8 weeks

MERCHANTS AND BANKERS – THE BUILDERS OF EUROPE
The banker, a figure immediately opposed by the Church which believed it unholy to demand interests on loans. Then the Liberal revolution gradually introduced by the Roman emperors Constantine, Theodosius, Arcadius and Valentinian which made it legal to put in act. But the breakthrough came in 1200 when in the republic of Siena, an emerging power in the Middle Ages, Olrando Bonsignori is affirmed, the Rothschild of the Middle Ages, who develops the first foreign bank and finances large European royal families. Then, with the decline of Siena, the arrival of the great Florentine families, such as the Bardi, Peruzzi and Medici, who joined the figure of the merchant to that of the banker tying their history to European politicial events.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF EUROPE: A DREAM OR A REALITY?
We retrace the main stages of the economic and monetary union of Europe. From the first six founding members, to the 27 present in EU today, to the 17 who have chosen to share the common fate of a single currency. A true ”bumpy road” full of supranational impulses and nationalistic selfishness, and, above all, the perennial power struggle between national governments and European institutions. Contradictions which exploded with a roar after the recession of the 2008-2009 period. The public debt crisis in different European countries puts considerable strain on the dream of a common house.

FOR A COMPATIBLE ECONOMY: ecology, innovation and development Sustainable economic growth, a useless slogan “politically correct” or a realistic way? A land where the Western policies are compared with those of the emerging economies. From technologies to reduce emission of pollution to new ways of generating power, a fascinating challenge, which promises a new model of development, but is also contrasted by the lobby of the ”old economy” fearful of losing profits, and above all the ability to influence the government choices.