30 May-2 June 2019 Trento, Italy

The Trento Festival of Economics 

The Trento Festival of Economics takes place every year in Trento since its first edition in 2006. Every year, Nobel prize winners and internationally-renowned scholars, politicians, intellectuals, economists, trade unionists and journalists, discuss and debate with the audience of the festival on extremely important and contemporary issues. Their aim is to make economics more understandable to allow everyone to access it and, at the same time, to shed light on the economists’ way of thinking for people who usually are not very familiar with the subject.

2019 Editorial 

"Globalisation leads to a deep integration of markets, especially those for goods and capital, which results in increasing competitive pressures, greater international trade in goods and services and a reduction in price differentials. The competition from the low labour cost countries and the displacement of unskilled labour in the advanced economies drives the wide-spread popular demands for a closure of the national borders and explains recent shifts in political representation in Western countries. 

What explains these developments, which have radically changed the traditional division between left and right as well as the axes of political conflict and have undermined European social democracies? This question of increasing economic importance will be at the centre of this edition of the Festival."

Tito Boeri | Scientific Director of the Festival of Economics

OECD SESSIONS AT A GLANCE

Brochure

31 May 2019 | 11.30 #Culture

31 May 2019 | 14.30 #Populism

1 June 2019 | 11.30 #Productivity

1 June 2019 | 15.00 #Decentralisation

2 June 2019 | 10.00 #Globalisation

 English/Italian simultaneous translation provided

_{31 May 2019 | 14.30 - #Populism
Venue: Buonconsiglio Castle | official web page}

Voting patterns, regions left behind and policy responses: The rise of the places that don’t matter

Persistent poverty, economic decay and a lack of opportunities are causing discontent in declining regions. It has led many of these so-called “places that don’t matter” to revolt in a wave of political populism with strong territorial, rather than social, foundations. What is the best policy approach to reverse this trend? How can policymakers provide opportunities to people living in the places that don’t matter?

• Andrés RODRIGUEZ-POSE, Professor of Economic Geography, London School of Economics, UK

Moderator: Alexander LEMBCKE, Economist, Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Regions and Cities, OECD

🎥 Video of the session
🔊 Podcast
📷 Photos

_{1 June 2019 | 15.00 - #Decentralisation 
Venue: Depero Room | official web page}

Making decentralisation work

Making the most of decentralisation for regional development is crucial in the current context of a “geography of discontent” and growing divides between places that feel left behind by globalisation and places that benefit from the opportunities offered by the megatrends. What makes decentralisation systems work in a more effective way? 

• Stefano BONACCINI, President, Emila Romagna Region, Italy
• Fernando FREIRE DE SOUSA, President, Norte Portugal Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-N), Portugal
• Maurizio FUGATTI, President of the Autonomous Province of Trento, Italy

Moderator: Joaquim OLIVEIRA MARTINS, Deputy Director, Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Regions and Cities, OECD

🎥 Video of the session
🔊 Podcast
📷 Photos

_{2 June 2019 | 10.00 - #Globalisation 
Venue: Depero Room | official web page}

Globalisation discontent: What can policy-makers do to tackle regional divergences?   

Regional economic divergence has become a threat to economic progress, social cohesion and political stability in Europe. The geography of discontent highlights the inability of current market processes and policies to spread prosperity and opportunity. What are the policies put in place by selected OECD countries to revert this trend? 

• Riccardo FRACCARO, Minister of the Italian Republic
• Fernando FREIRE DE SOUSA, President, Norte Portugal Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-N), Portugal
• Peter KURZ, Mayor of the city of Mannheim, Germany
• Jim O’NEILL, Economist and former Treasury Minister, UK

Moderator: Joaquim OLIVEIRA MARTINS, Deputy Director, Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Regions and Cities, OECD

🎥 Video of the session
🔊  Podcast
📷 Photos

_{31 May 2019 | 11.30 - #Culture
Venue: OECD Trento Centre | official web page}

Identity of places: What is the role of culture?

In collaboration with tsm -Trentino School of Managment

Cities, regions and their societies are the results of complex stratifications of identities, relationships and behaviours. What is the contribution of culture to the identity of places and how can culture and cultural heritage contribute to the development of localities challenged by globalisation?

• Joan ROCA, Director, Barcelona History Museum, Spain
• Joana SOUSA MONTEIRO, Director, City museum of Lisbon, Portugal
• Michele TRIMARCHI, Professor of Cultural Economics, University of Bologna, Italy

Moderator: Ekaterina TRAVKINA, Co-ordinator, Culture, Creative Industries and Local Development, OECD 

📎 Press release

_{1 June 2019 | 11.30 - #Productivity
Venue: OECD Trento Centre | official web page}

The imperative of growth: What can be done for regions and cities?

The limited diffusion of technology and knowledge weighs on productivity growth and innovation in the OECD countries. What can policies do to facilitate access to global knowledge and exploit the opportunities offered by an increasingly globalized and digitized world? What policies can governments and regions put in place to reduce territorial gaps?

Book presentation "Dying of aid. Policy failures for the South (and how to avoid them)”, Antonio Accetturo and Guido de Blasio, IBL Libri (2019)

• Antonio ACCETTURO, Economist, Italy
• Riccardo CRESCENZI, Professor of Economic Geography, London School of Economics, UK

Moderator: Alessandra Proto, Acting Head, OECD Trento Centre for Local Development 

📷 Photos
📎 Press release

More information

Official website

OECD Contact

Roberto.Chizzali@oecd.org

Links

OECD Trento Centre

@OECD_local