Boom Economy: Banks, Arms and Countries in Conflict

Dopo il successo di Boom Economy la Fisac Cgil Toscana ha deciso di pubblicare il volume in lingua inglese.
Working for peace in peacetime. This is the task that we feel urgent as representatives of so vital a sector for economy and society. The FISAC – CGIL of Tuscany is a trade union that organizes and represents workers and employees of credit institutions, revenue and tax collection services and insurance companies as well as of the Bank of Italy. Long committed to the study of the relationship between ethics and finance,
the FISAC – CGIL of Tuscany has embarked on promoting an open discussion with anyone directly involved in this subject and all those who are interested in research and in the construction of a new, meaningful relationship between ethics and finance. Our mission aims to consider the essence of this issue without using these terms in a utilitarian, imaginative way. Being aware of all the limitations of this work, we would like to operate actively in spreading a different idea of the financial and saving systems; an idea that could create a new culture in finance, starting from an ethical and responsible use of resources. Research, knowledge, and the awareness of knowing how both our work and our money are utilized and where they end up are key elements of this endeavour.
After leading us into the present economic crisis through a thirty-year long historical path, the neoliberal model proved that it could work without knowledge, know-how, and the utilization of alternative ingenuities. It is no coincidence that heavy budget cuts on schools, universities and research became the troubling corollary of this statement. In Italy, in particular, numerous problems of political, economic and financial nature, taken together, are likely to become only an excuse to justify this barbarization. Therefore, we feel the obligation to give space, economic resources and political impetus to ideas, responsible information and research. Accordingly, the collaboration with IRES and, in particular, the research support of Chiara Bonaiuti and Giorgio Beretta, together with their expertise and commitment, provide us with a unique insight into Italy on how Italian money and investments in retirement funds are likely to provoke conflicts and arms threats. We are not speaking of shady trades; on the contrary, legal transactions are able to let the money of investors flow towards ethically controversial sectors. Can money be considered neutral? Absolutely not: money can be a tool capable of steering the economic choices of financial institutions to an idea of social wealth that cannot be measured simply in terms of profit and efficiency but, above all, in its ability to generate social-added value. Information and awareness, new partnerships and a desire to change what seems unchangeable: here are yet other goals of ours.