Italy
I’m an experienced economist in the financial industry and a prolific commentator on global affairs. I am currently working on a book project on Europe's elite brain drain that was shortlisted by McKinsey and the Financial Times for the Bracken Bower Prize granted to promising writers below 35. My writings have appeared in Foreign Affairs, Project Syndicate, the Financial Times, the Guardian, Aspenia, the European and many other top media outlets on topics ranging from Europe’s secessionism and the future of GDP to the emergence of a jobless generation, the rise of the Anglosphere and China’s economic model. I’m an incoming Rockefeller Fellow at the Trilateral Commission, I'm affiliated with the Aspen Institute and hold an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School, which I attended on a Fulbright scholarship. I'm a recipient of Harvard’s Certificate for Teaching Excellence for a course on globalization taught under the supervision of prof. Larry Summers.
China's ballooning corporate debt remains the number one systemic risk to global economic recovery. If the bubble bursts, it will drag down the rest of the world while compromising Chinese Premier Xi Jinping's grip on power ahead of the Chinese Communist Party congress late in the year.
Regulators everywhere are going after Uber, a fast-growing ride-sharing platform. China, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, and Norway have outlawed the app, while Australia, Dubai, India, and Taiwan have severely limited its operations. Even in the United States, several municipalities have questioned the legality of the cab services provided by the San Francisco-based firm.
Global affairs
From U.S. President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" to Brexiteers' "Global Britain" and Chinese President Xi Jinping's "Great rejuvenation of the Chinese people," nostalgic nationalism has become a major force in politics around the world.
Outgoing Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's fall from power marks the end of one of Western democracy most controversial recent chapters. But the story of Berlusconi's rise and fall was written long ago, during the Renaissance, in Niccolò Machiavelli's classic work The Prince.
On top of the many economic and political challenges Europe will face in 2017 is secessionism. At present, there are about 100 active autonomist groups across Europe-although with varying degrees of popular support and commitment-and Catalonia and Scotland are once again at the epicenter.
The EU's founders believed that a lingua franca would emerge through economic and social interaction. But they were wrong: to strengthen the euro and establish the foundations for a political union, European leaders should undertake a rapid and explicit process of linguistic integration.
When the euro crisis ravaged Ireland's economy in 2009, Dublin promptly turned to its diaspora for help. Ireland's banking sector was close to collapse and its public finances were out of control, but Ireland's successful and patriotic expatriates were well positioned to assist.
No workers in the world are as loyal to their employers as the Japanese. Physical health, family life, and spare time are all subordinate to the success of the company. But the socioeconomic costs of such strong work ethics are now outweighing its benefits, and the government knows it.
Mercantilism has destabilized the world for centuries. Before the Industrial Revolution, rulers stifled imports through tariffs and quotas to boost domestic production, weaken rival powers, and increase global influence. Inevitably, these moves led to short-term gains but also to political tension, territorial expansion, and fatiguing wars.
In its push for universal higher education and greater status on the world stage, China is stringing its young people along with the promise of high-paid, meaningful employment after college. It is a promise that China's economy will not be able to fulfill for a very long time.