TO SOME, a festival of economics might sound like an oxymoron. The dismal science tends to be technical in nature, usually provoking more debate at academic conferences than at celebrations for the masses. But in picturesque Trento in northern Italy, an annual celebration of the dismal science is in its tenth year. Founded by Tito Boeri, an Italian economist, the public event takes over the city for five days at the end of May each year. Attendees trundle along between libraries, auditoriums, and elegant palazzi to hear economists, academics and policymakers pontificate. For those who don’t fancy braving the queues for some of the events, a giant screen has been erected in the city’s main square to broadcast some of the discussions.
“Wonderful” is how Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel-prize-winning economist, describes the festival on his first visit. “Normally we [economists] talk to each other," he says. “This is a real attempt to move beyond the circle.” The theme this time is social mobility, on which Mr Stiglitz has written widely and which he examines in his latest book, “The Great Divide”. Opening the...Continue reading
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