The Rise and Fall of Modern Political Space

In order to analyze the rise and fall of modern political space, it is necessary to understand how space matters in political thought and in politics, starting from an exposition of what is meant with the concept of “implicit space”.This is the aim of my paper, which is based on the ideas I developed in Political Spaces and Global War (2010).In order to analyze the rise and fall of modern political space, it is necessary to understand how space matters in political thought and in politics, starting from an exposition of what is meant with the concept of “implicit space”.This is the aim of my paper, which is based on the ideas I developed in Political Spaces and Global War (2010)

Essays in Macroeconomics and Sovereign Default

This thesis studies government fiscal, monetary and debt policy, with a particular focus on debt crises and the pricing of default risk. The first chapter studies the circular relationship between sovereign credit risk, government fiscal and debt policy, and output. I show that, when fiscal policy responds to borrowing conditions in the sovereign debt market, multiple equilibria exist where the expectations of lenders are self-fulfilling. This result is reminiscent of the European debt crisis of 2010-12: while recessionary, fiscal austerity may be the government best response to excessive borrowing costs during a confidence crisis. The second chapter studies the information sensitivity of government debt denominated in domestic vs. foreign currency: the former is subject to inflation risk and the latter to default. Default only affects sophisticated bond traders, whereas inflation concerns a larger and less informed group. Within a two-period Bayesian trading game, we display conditions under which debt prices are more resilient to bad news. Our results can explain debt prices across countries following the 2008 financial crisis, and also provide a theory of ``original sin." The third chapter explores the trade-off between strategic inflation and default for a set of large emerging market economies that borrow mostly in their local currency. Using derivatives data, I find a robust, positive correlation between default risk, expected and realised inflation. I use these facts to discipline a quantitative sovereign default model where a government issues debt in domestic currency and lacks commitment to fiscal and monetary policy. I show that simple models of debt dilution via default and inflation have counterfactual implications. I highlight the role of monetary financing in matching the data, allowing inflation to serve a second purpose: in bad times, seigniorage is especially useful as a flexible source of funding when other margins are hard to adjust

Is inflation default? The role of information in debt crises

We study the information sensitivity of government debt denominated in domestic versus foreign currency: the former is subject to inflation risk and the latter to default. Default only affects sophisticated bond traders, whereas inflation concerns a larger and less informed group. Within a two- period Bayesian trading game, differential information manifests itself in the secondary market, and we display conditions under which debt prices are more resilient to bad news even in the primary market, where only sophisticated players operate. Our results can explain debt prices across countries following the 2008 financial crisis, and also provide a theory of “original sin.”Financial support from the ADEMU (H2020, No. 649396) project and from the ESRC Centre for Macroeconomics is gratefully acknowledged

Indoor/outdoor air exchange affects indoor radon – the use of a scale model room to develop a mitigation strategy

Abstract. Indoor/outdoor air exchange on indoor radon concentration was investigated. We evaluated the effect of air extraction versus air introduction at different flow rates on equilibrium 222Rn activity concentrations in a scale model room of 62 cm × 50 cm × 35 cm (inner length x width × height), made of a porous, radium and thorium-rich lithoid ignimbrite (Tufo di Gallese) from Vico volcano (Lazio, central Italy). Experiments were carried either with the inner walls of the chamber covered with a plasterboard shield or without any inner coating. Air introduction was always more effective than air extraction to reduce indoor 222Rn and, in both cases, higher flow rates produced higher 222Rn decreases. The presence of the plasterboard enhanced 222Rn reduction when outdoor air was introduced in the chamber. Main results were that, with plasterboard, maximum reductions of 89.5 % and 25.0 % were obtained introducing and extracting air, respectively; without plasterboard, we found maximum radon decreases of 33.2 % and 26.6 %, namely with air introduction or extraction. The diffusion of 222Rn through the walls of the scale model room was modelled with a modified version of Fick's second law, where a term considering air flow velocity was added. These findings suggested that the combined use of proper coatings on the inner walls of a house and outdoor air introduction at suitable rates are a good strategy to approach radon mitigation actions

“Imperfetto perfettismo”: le riforme costituzionali nell’Italia del secondo dopoguerra. Intervista a Carlo Galli

Lo storico del pensiero politico Carlo Galli, nell’intervista rilasciata a Diacronie. Studi di Storia contemporanea il 30 luglio 2016, partendo dall’esame degli esiti dell’ultima revisione del testo costituzionale, ripercorre le fasi e le caratteristiche fondamentali del dibattito sulle riforme istituzionali nel secondo dopoguerra. L’analisi delle ideologie e dell’evoluzione del pensiero politico rappresentano così l’occasione per un approfondimento degli assetti del potere in Italia alla luce degli eventi storici degli ultimi decenni.In the interview sent to Diacronie. Studi di Storia contemporanea on 30th July 2016, the historian of political thought Carlo Galli analyzes the outcome of the last revision of the constitutional text, recalls the phases and the essential characteristics of the debate about the institutional reform after the Second World-War. The analysis of the ideologies and evolution of the political thoughts are used to deepen about the power structure in Italy in the last decades

Perché Schmitt

The essay connects the revival of Schmitt in the Italian culture of the ‘70s and ‘80s to the theoretical and political need to find conceptual tools to assess the limits and aporias of Modernity and of the related rationalist and dialectic “theoriticization” of politics. The root of Schmitt’s conceptual power lies in the capacity to assume the groundlessness of Modernity and the disconnection between reason and reality not as a surrender, but rather as the origin of the creative and con flicting energy crisscrossing politics. While it was able to lend a refreshed intellectual freedom versus worn-out intellectual models, Schmitt’s thought can neither be annexed to a post-Gramscian Marxism, nor disconnected from the category of sovereignty. Epimetheus more than Prometheus, Schmitt remains within the horizon of Modernity, grasping it in its decline: he conceptualizes the explosion of the State, but not its alternative. As for the relation to the present, without surrendering to easy resonances between the current crisis of liberal-democracies and Schmitt’s critique of Modernity, it is more fruitful to assess the persistence of the “intermediate phase” that Schmitt recognized in the ‘30s and use the powerful conceptual devices he provided to fabricate new ones.   El ensayo vincula la recuperación de Schmitt en la cultura italiana de los años setenta y ochenta con la necesidad teórico-política de instrumentos conceptuales para pensar los límites y las aporías de la modernidad y de la correlativa teorización, racionalista y dialéctica, de la política. La raíz del potencial conceptual que posee el pensamiento de Schmitt se reconoce en la capacidad de asumir la falta de fundamento de la modernidad y la desconexión entre la razón y la realidad, no como una capitulación, sino como una fuente de la energía creativa y conflictual que atraviesa la política. A pesar de que ha sido capaz de proporcionar una renovada libertad intelectual frente a los esquemas interpretativos ahora agotados, el pensamiento de Schmitt, sin embargo, no puede adjuntarse a un marxismo posgramsciano ni ser separado de la categoría de soberanía. Epimeteo más que Prometeo, Schmitt permanece dentro de la modernidad, atrapándola en su ocaso: piensa en la explosión del Estado, pero no en su alternativa. En relación con el presente, y sin caer en fáciles resonancias entre la actual crisis de la conceptualidad liberal-democrática y la crítica schmittiana de la modernidad, resulta útil reconocer la persistencia de aquella “fase intermedia” que Schmitt había advertido en los años treinta, y utilizar el poderoso aparato conceptual que nos ha legado, para fabricar uno nuevo

Self-fulfilling debt crises, fiscal policy and investment

This paper studies the circular relationship between sovereign credit risk, government fiscal and debt policy, and output. I consider a sovereign default model with fiscal policy and private capital accumulation. I show that, when fiscal policy responds to borrowing conditions in the sovereign debt market, multiple equilibria exist where the expectations of lenders are self-fulfilling. In the bad equilibrium, pessimistic beliefs make sovereign debt costly. The government substitutes borrowing with taxation, which depresses private investment and future output, increases default probabilities and verifies lenders’ beliefs. This result is reminiscent of the European debt crisis of 2010-12: while recessionary, fiscal austerity may be the government best response to excessive borrowing costs during a confidence crisis

Cities in transformation.Computational urban planning through big data analytics.

Future scenarios foresee a city as a fragmented and uneven system in relation to rapidly evolving environmental, economic and social phenomena. The traditional urban planning tools, based on a theoretical-predictive appro-ach, adapt poorly. We need to rethink how to govern the transformations of a city, which can be described by models of urban metabolism. City Sensing has changed the way a city is explored and used. With the transition from di-gitisation to datafication, through a computational approach, one can process georeferenced datasets within algorithms in order to achieve a higher quality of the project. This process exploits data provided by public administrations, companies and citizens taking part in inclusive and adaptive urban planning.Keywords: City Sensing; Datafication; Big Data Analytics; Computational Urban Planning; Adaptive and Inclusive Urban Planning

The management of large vessel vasculitides

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) and Takayasu arteritis (TAK) represent the most common large vessel vasculitides (LVV). An early recognition of these conditions is crucial in order to start a prompt treatment to prevent severe ischemic complications, such as irreversible visual loss in GCA and cardiovascular or cerebrovascular accidents in TAK. Isolated glucocorticoids (GCs) still remain the cornerstone of GCA therapy. However, long-term treatment with GCs is burdened by an important toxicity. Furthermore, relapses are frequent during the follow-up period and relapsing patients have to cope with a longer duration of the GC therapy and a higher cumulative GC dose. On the other hand, TAK treatment usually relies on immunosuppressors in addition to GCs from the beginning. Also, since TAK patients are in general young women with a progressive disease, it is essential to treat this vasculitis with steroidsparing drugs in order to avoid excessive GC exposure. For this reason, efforts have been made to discover new therapeutic options able to reduce the cumulative GC dose that is strictly related to GC-toxicity. In recent years, new advances in the management of LVV have become available and have changed the therapeutic approach to these diseases. The aim of this review is to report new evidence of treatment efficacy and safety in LVV