In recent months, discussing the global economy in the pages of this magazine, we have observed how international trade is changing in nature. Value chains are being reorganized, companies are seeking more secure supply networks, and governments are once again confronting a question that once seemed outdated: economic security.
It is a profound shift. For more than thirty years we lived with the idea that the global market was capable of regulating itself. Companies moved freely across continents, production was distributed on a planetary scale, and governments appeared destined for an increasingly marginal role - referees of the economic game rather than key players.
It was the great era of globalization. For many years the system operated according to an apparently simple logic: produce where costs are lowest, innovate where capital and expertise are available, and sell wherever markets allow. In that environment, the economic geography of the world seemed almost to dissolve.
In recent years, however, something has changed.
The pandemic revealed how fragile global production chains can be. Geopolitical tensions made clear the dependence on certain strategic technologies. Competition among major powers brought back to the center a question that seemed to belong to the twentieth century: who truly controls the essential industrial infrastructure?
Almost quietly, governments have returned to the economy.
In the United States this shift has been especially visible. With the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act, Washington has mobilized hundreds of billions of dollars to support domestic production of strategic technologies - semiconductors, renewable energy, and advanced industrial infrastructure.
This is not simply a matter of economic incentives. It is a strategic decision. It means recognizing that some industrial supply chains are too important to be left entirely to the logic of the global market.
Economist Dani Rodrik explained it clearly: “The future of the global economy will not only be competition among firms, but increasingly competition among development models supported by governments.”
Europe, although more cautiously, is moving in the same direction. European programs focused on the energy transition, semiconductors, and technological sovereignty represent attempts to strengthen the continent’s industrial autonomy.
This is not a return to the protectionism of the past. Rather, it reflects the emergence of a new form of strategic capitalism, in which governments seek to guide the major trajectories of innovation.
Within this global scenario, Italy’s position deserves careful attention.
In international debates, Italy is sometimes described through categories that are now outdated: slow growth, high public debt, and an industrial system that struggles to compete with major technological powers. Yet the reality is more complex.
Italy remains today the second-largest manufacturing power in Europe and one of the most diversified industrial economies in the world. Manufacturing generates more than €320 billion in added value each year, equal to roughly sixteen percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
What truly makes the Italian industrial model distinctive, however, is not only the scale of production. It is its structure.
Unlike other major economic systems, Italian industry is not built around a small number of dominant giants. Instead, it is based on a widespread network of highly specialized companies - often medium-sized or family-owned businesses that, over time, have developed extraordinary technical expertise in very specific production segments.
In certain sectors - such as automated machinery for packaging or for the food industry - Italian companies hold global market shares exceeding thirty percent. This means that many American manufacturing plants operate every day thanks to technologies designed and built in Italy.
It is a deep form of industrial integration, often invisible to the general public but essential for understanding how interconnected the two economies truly are.
The economic world now taking shape, however, is different from the one we have known over the past decades. It is no longer simply a competition among companies. Increasingly, it is a competition among economic systems.
The United States focuses on technological innovation and on its ability to attract capital and talent from around the world. China continues to sustain its industrial growth through a long-term state strategy. Europe seeks a balance between open markets and the protection of its strategic supply chains.
In this context, the key concept becomes economic resilience - the capacity of a country to produce technology, energy, and strategic goods without depending entirely on external suppliers.
It is no coincidence that today more than seventy percent of international trade takes place within regional value chains or among countries with strong economic and institutional affinities. The world remains global, but it is also becoming more selective.
And it is precisely in this environment that the relationship between Italy and the United States continues to maintain a special strength - not only for economic reasons, but also because of a cultural and human dimension that often escapes purely statistical analysis.
More than twenty million Americans are of Italian descent. Over generations, this community has made a significant contribution to the economic, cultural, and entrepreneurial life of the country.
This presence represents something more than a simple historical legacy. It is an extraordinary form of relational capital, built on mutual knowledge, cultural trust, and familiarity with two different economic models.
Those who belong to the Italian American community understand well the American entrepreneurial mindset, characterized by speed, innovation, and investment capacity. But they also understand the value of manufacturing, quality, and industrial continuity that define the Italian economic tradition.
In an increasingly complex world, this dual perspective can become a valuable resource.
Adriano Olivetti once wrote that “a company must not look only at profit margins, but must also distribute wealth, culture, and services.” It was a reminder that the economy is not only about production, but also about responsibility.
Perhaps this is one of the most relevant lessons for today’s global economy: globalization has not ended - it has simply changed.
Economies no longer compete only on the speed of production chains or the cost of labor. They compete on their ability to build industrial systems that are resilient, innovative, and culturally cohesive.
It is on this terrain that one of the decisive challenges of the coming years will unfold - determining who will lead the major technological and industrial transformations of the twenty-first century.
A question that concerns not only governments and companies, but also communities - such as the Italian American one - that have always lived at the intersection of two economic and cultural worlds.
Because, in the end, the great transformations of the global economy are never born only in factories or markets.
They are born in the relationships among people who know how to build bridges between different experiences.
