Taking the Draghi report as a starting point, the conversation will focus on economic mechanisms and incentives for private and public funding and for creating an ecosystem for innovation and start-ups in Europe. It will explore questions such as: What is the different impact of US private equity markets vs. existing financing mechanisms in the EU to foster start-ups and innovation? How can Europe reform its capital markets to increase private investment and steer it towards cutting-edge sectors and technologies? What should be the respective roles of private and public sectors? What is the right balance to find between regulation and innovation for new technologies? Can Europe leverage the need for more defence investment to innovate? Can it find a place between the US and China in the key technologies and innovations that will shape future competitiveness?
Bengt Holmström is Adjunct Professor at the Florence School of Transnational Governance and the Paul A. Samuelson Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before joining MIT he was the Edwin J. Beinecke Professor of Management at Yale University’s School of Management and associate professor at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. In 2016, Holmström was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize (jointly with Oliver Hart) for his research on contract theory. Together with Hart, he laid the foundations of a field that has come to influence almost all areas of economics. His models of incentives and contracting, especially as applied to the theory of the firm, to corporate governance and to liquidity problems in financial markets, are notable for their theoretical elegance and practical insights. His recent research on the financial crisis 2008-09 has strongly influenced current views of the causes of the crises and more generally, the role of debt in the financial system. Holmström is a former board member of the Nokia Corporation, the Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA, and Aalto University. He currently serves on several academic advisory boards, including Barcelona Graduate School of Economics, Toulouse School of Economics and the Luohan Academy in China.
Laurence Boone is Adjunct Professor at the Florence School of Transnational Governance. She served as economic advisor to French President François Hollande, as the OECD Chief Economist and Deputy Secretary-General from 2018 to 2022. As the Secretary of State for European Affairs in the French government from 2022 until 2024, she played a pivotal role in advancing economic security issues within Europe and preparing for the opening of negotiations for candidate countries to join the EU. After leaving government, Boone was appointed as the new head of Santander Corporate & Investment Banking France. Boone has extensive experience in the financial sector, having held senior positions at AXA, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Barclays Capital. She holds a PhD in Applied Econometrics from the London Business School (UK) and has taught economics at leading institutions, including Sciences Po, École Polytechnique, and King’s College.
Laura Tyson is Senior Fellow at the Florence School of Transnational Governance and is a Distinguished Professor of the Graduate School at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley. She is the co-chair of California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Council of Economic Advisors. She served as the Dean of London Business School (2002-2006) and the Dean of the Berkeley Haas (1998-2001). Tyson was a member of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness and the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. She served in the Clinton Administration as the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers (1993-1995) and as Director of the National Economic Council (1995 – 1996). She is a member of the Board of Directors of Stem Inc., Lexmark International Inc., and Apex Swiss Holdings SARL. She is the co-author of Leave No One Behind, a report for the United Nation’s High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment.
The event will take place in hybrid format at the STG premises in Palazzo Buontalenti. All are welcome to attend. Please note that online participants will not be able to participate in the Q&A.