What do the latest entrepreneurial crises, the suffering of certain capitalisms, cases like Benetton and Stellantis teach us? That finance cannot overtake industry and that “we must accept the challenges, not circumvent them”. This is supported by Ferruccio de Bortoli who analyzes two-faced Italian entrepreneurship in the Economics of the Corriere della Sera, on newsstands tomorrow for free with the newspaper. On the one hand there is the strength of the industry, on the other the temptation of some entrepreneurs to be rentier or to rely on family offices instead of managing businesses and innovating.
The temptation of the rentiers
«Italian entrepreneurs have many qualities – writes de Bortoli -. The country is based on their ability to produce and, above all, to export. However, there are flaws. One is underrated. Poor, if any, self-critical ability. Failures are always the fault of others.” There is a «caste silence», writes de Bortoli, which «does not favor the development of Italian entrepreneurship. It does not push her to think publicly about the consequences of some choices which, in some cases, have placed the financial dimension (short-term profit and shareholder remuneration) before the industrial dimension (work, skills, innovation). Nor on the tendency to transform into rentiers, perhaps only to overcome succession problems.” The inspiration comes from the interview with Corriere by Luciano Benetton, who said he was “betrayed by the management” and denounced “a surprise red of 230 million”. De Bortoli writes: «It would be worth asking ourselves why Benetton was first imitated and then surpassed by competitors such as Zara and H&M». As for Stellantis, “the goal of one million cars remains distant”, while Turin “politely feels orphaned by Fiat”. In both cases, the “tendency towards the financialisation of the economy” has something to do with it, on which De Bortoli lists the Mediobanca data: “The ratio between financial and industrial investments was 30% in 1992, 138% in 2007”.
Foreign capital
It is clear that if abusing finance is a problem, not using it for development is also a problem. For example, to support small and medium-sized unlisted businesses. Innocenzo Cipolletta, president of Aifi, on the Economy urges the government to intervene in the reform of the Consolidated Finance Act, so that the resources of private equity funds are channeled into the real economy.
The cover is dedicated to Angelo Mastrolia, founder of Newlat of the Giglio and Polenghi Lombardo brands. After the acquisition of the English Princes, it aims for five billion in revenues and is evaluating new dossiers. Another character of the week is Roberto Gavazzi, president and CEO of the Brianza group Boffi De Padova: he announces new openings in India and the United States and, on acquisitions, he follows the line of integration: «We will not make the brand collection». Also in Lombardy, Sergio Longoni, historic sportswear retail entrepreneur, talks about the restart with Df Sport Specialist, in the Palazzo dello Sport in Lissone.
In the Savings section you will find advice for investing if the ECB cuts rates, from the stock market to fixed income.
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